The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has released important information regarding the Olympic Football Tournament 2024 – OFC Men’s Qualifier 2023 in a circular addressed to all OFC Member Associations.
Competition Details
The OFC Competitions Department has confirmed the following competition details:
Dates: August 27 to September 9, 2023
Venue: Auckland, New Zealand
Participating Teams: 8 (American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu)
Format
Group Stage – 2 Groups: A & B (4 teams each), Semi-finals, and Final
Qualification: The winner of the final will secure direct qualification for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024.
Confirmation of Competition Regulations
The Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments, Games of the XXIII Olympiad Paris 2024, are available through the link provided on FIFA’s website: Regulations-for-the-Olympic-Football Tournaments-2024-preliminary-competition_EN_final.pdf (fifa.com)
Notification of Official Draw
The Official Draw for the tournament will take place in Auckland at 2:00 pm on Thursday, June 1, 2023 (New Zealand date). The draw will adhere to specific seeding and draw procedures outlined below:
Seeding
The seeding for the Official Draw will be based on the final ranking of the teams from the Olympic Football Tournaments 2020 – OFC Men’s Qualifier 2019, as follows:
Participating Member Association | Ranking
New Zealand | 1
Solomon Islands | 2
Fiji | 3=
Vanuatu | 3=
Papua New Guinea | 5=
Samoa | 5=
American Samoa | 8=
Tonga | 8=
Pot Allocation
Pot 3: American Samoa, Tonga
Pot 2: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa
Pot 1: New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Draw Constraints
The draw will ensure that each group is composed of:
a. At least 1 of the teams ranked 1-2
b. At least 2 of the teams ranked 3= and 5=
c. At least 1 of the teams ranked 8=
Draw Procedure
The draw will commence with Pot 3, followed by Pot 2, and finally Pot 1. Each pot will be emptied completely before moving on to the next. Teams drawn from each pot will be allocated to the groups sequentially, starting with Group A and then Group B. The team drawn first will be placed in Group A, the next in Group B, and so on, until all pots are emptied. The position of each team in a group will be determined by the pot from which it is drawn. Therefore, teams from Pot 3 will go to position 4, teams from Pot 2 will go to positions 3-2, and teams from Pot 1 will go to position 1.
The OFC will release a media statement with more details, including the time of the draw and the link to watch it.
For further inquiries or information, the OFC Competitions Department is available for assistance.
