who is behind the Chch bid?
You should do some research. Slava Meyn is a very wealthy Ruskie and has been involved with ChCh United for must be over a decade now. Been plenty of NZ football stories about him and what he's built down in ChCh post the quakes.
It's clear CU have wanted to very much be in this new OFC Pro League since it was first announced. It's been their main focus. The leaks were their application was very impressive. They have been busy inviting OFC delegates to ChCh and signing a MOU with the Vanuatu FA. Got a few Vanuatu players I think in their SL squad.
Rather ironically this year they look like not qualifying for the NL Championship phase, but today I doubt they care much about that.