2021 OFC Champions League

The 2021 OFC Champions League was originally to be the 20th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 15th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

2021 OFC Champions League
Tournament details
DatesCancelled
Teams18 (expected) (from 11 associations)

The tournament, which would usually be played in the first half of the year, were originally postponed to start no earlier than 1 July due to border closures throughout the Pacific caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] On 4 June 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament had been cancelled, and no champions would be awarded for the second season in a row.[2] The OFC representative at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, which would originally be the winners of the 2021 OFC Champions League, was confirmed to be Auckland City on 3 August 2021 following a decision by the OFC Executive Committee, based on sporting merit principles which took into consideration the final placing of every member association's national league champion and runner-up in each OFC Champions League between 2016 and 2020, with the results combined to determine an overall ranking, and applied to the clubs nominated by their member association as the champion or runner-up from their respective national leagues to qualify for the 2021 OFC Champions League.[3] However, on 31 December 2021, FIFA announced that Auckland City had withdrawn from the competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine measures required by the New Zealand authorities. As a result, AS Pirae were nominated as the OFC's representative in their place.

Hienghène Sport, having won the title in 2019, were the title holders, since the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the title was not awarded.[4] However, they failed to qualify for the tournament.

Teams

A total of 18 teams from all 11 OFC member associations were eligible to enter the competition.

  • The seven developed associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) would be awarded two berths each in the group stage.
  • The four developing associations (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga) would be awarded one berth each in the qualifying stage, with the winners and runners-up advancing to the group stage.
Teams from developed associations, originally to enter the group stage
Association Team Qualifying method
 Fiji Suva 2020 Fiji Premier League champions
Rewa 2020 Fiji Premier League runners-up
 New Caledonia Tiga Sport 2020 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
Horizon Patho 2020 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
 New Zealand Auckland City 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship champions and regular season premiers[Note NZL]
Team Wellington 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship regular season runners-up[Note NZL]
 Papua New Guinea Lae City 2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champions and regular season premiers
Hekari United 2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season runners-up
 Solomon Islands Henderson Eels 2020–21 Solomon Islands S-League champions
Solomon Warriors 2020–21 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up
 Tahiti Pirae 2019–20 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions[Note TAH]
Vénus 2019–20 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up[Note TAH]
 Vanuatu Galaxy 2020 VFF National Super League champions
Malampa Revivors 2020 VFF National Super League runners-up
Teams from developing associations, originally to enter the qualifying stage
Association Team Qualifying method
 American Samoa Pago Youth 2019 FFAS Senior League champions[Note ASA]
 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 2020 Cook Islands Round Cup champions
 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 2020 Samoa National League first round winners
 Tonga Veitongo 2019 Tonga Major League champions[Note TGA]
Notes
  1. ^
    American Samoa (ASA): The 2020 FFAS Senior League was cancelled by the Football Federation American Samoa due to the COVID-19 pandemic in American Samoa.[5]
  2. ^
    New Zealand (NZL): On 18 March 2020, New Zealand Football announced that the 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship season had been concluded, with the remainder of the regular season and the finals series cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Auckland City, who were leading the regular season table, were declared champions and regular season premiers, and qualified for the 2021 OFC Champions League together with Team Wellington, who were at second place in the regular season table.[6]
  3. ^
    Tahiti (TAH): On 16 May 2020, the Tahitian Football Federation announced that the 2019–20 Tahiti Ligue 1 season had been concluded, with the remainder of the season cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in French Polynesia. Originally it was decided that the title would not be awarded, and the top three teams of the league table would play in a playoff, where the winners and runners-up would qualify for the 2021 OFC Champions League.[7] However, on 27 May 2020 following new consultation with the clubs, Pirae, who were leading the table, were declared champions, and qualified for the 2021 OFC Champions League together with Vénus, who were at second place.[8]
  4. ^
    Tonga (TGA): The 2020 Tonga Major League was cancelled by the Tonga Football Association due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Tonga.[9]

Schedule

The tournament would originally be played between January and May 2021, with the qualifying stage scheduled to be played in Samoa in January, and the group stage starting in February. However, the OFC announced on 5 November 2020 that the tournament would begin no earlier than 1 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] On 4 March 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament would be played before 31 October 2021, and one option was to hold a single, centralised tournament in Fiji in October.[10] However, the tournament was eventually cancelled after a number of options were explored due to border closures throughout the Pacific.[2]

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.[11]

Original schedule for 2021 OFC Champions League
Stage Match dates
Qualifying stage 11–16 January 2021 (Samoa)[12]
Group stage
  • Group A: 13–21 February 2021[13]
  • Group B: 13–21 February 2021[14]
  • Group C: 27 February – 7 March 2021[15]
  • Group D: 27 February – 7 March 2021[16]
Quarter-finals 3–4 April 2021[17]
Semi-finals 24–25 April 2021[18]
Final 15 May 2021[19]

References
  1. "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
  2. "OFC competitions calendar rescheduled". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 June 2021.
  3. "Auckland City FC nominated for the FIFA Club World Cup 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 3 August 2021.
  4. "OFC Champions League 2020 cancelled". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 September 2020.
  5. "American Samoa varsity leagues crown winners". Oceania Football Confederation. 30 March 2021.
  6. "Premiership concluded, Auckland City champions". New Zealand Football. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  7. "Communiqué Officiel". Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 16 May 2020.
  8. "Communiqué Officiel – Décision du Comité Exécutif du 27 mai". Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 27 May 2020.
  9. "Football action heats up across Oceania". Oceania Football Confederation. 14 October 2020.
  10. "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.
  11. "OFC Competitions 2021 Calendar (updated 4/06/2021)" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 4 June 2021.
  12. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Qualifying Stage". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  13. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Group A". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  14. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Group B". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  15. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Group C". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  16. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Group D". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  17. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Quarter Finals". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  18. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Semi-Finals". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  19. "OFC Champions League 2021 – Final". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
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