Strictly speaking it's true as all the NZ talent going through the club, are yes OFC players. Bit of artistic licence. Certainly I don't think their community engagement is 'unrivalled'.
I mean CU appear to have done more n the last 12 months to foster links to the rest of the OFC, than the Nix have done in 17 years. For sure CU's motivation to do that clearly driven by the ambition to enter the OFC League. Still they have gone out and done the networking.
That article contains lots of info on why the Nix think they should be in the league. Fair enough they are hurting and disappointed, but it's sort of inward looking only.
Maybe having CU & AFC in the comp is just the best outcome for the OFC League itself, ie simply what's best for the new league, which is rightly what the selection committee would have been focussing on. The Sth Island being a region without pro football, new commercial opportunities blah blah. Auckland such a hub for the Pacific, OFC headquarters, blah blah.
Granted the OFC not sharing the club selection metrics, makes it hard for the Nix to see how they measured up against the successful bids.
A statement from the OFC that expansion after Season One will be considered, wouldn't be a bad thing. Though think I read somewhere the league will be capped at only 8 teams, for first couple of years??
I mean CU appear to have done more n the last 12 months to foster links to the rest of the OFC, than the Nix have done in 17 years. For sure CU's motivation to do that clearly driven by the ambition to enter the OFC League. Still they have gone out and done the networking.
That article contains lots of info on why the Nix think they should be in the league. Fair enough they are hurting and disappointed, but it's sort of inward looking only.
Maybe having CU & AFC in the comp is just the best outcome for the OFC League itself, ie simply what's best for the new league, which is rightly what the selection committee would have been focussing on. The Sth Island being a region without pro football, new commercial opportunities blah blah. Auckland such a hub for the Pacific, OFC headquarters, blah blah.
Granted the OFC not sharing the club selection metrics, makes it hard for the Nix to see how they measured up against the successful bids.
A statement from the OFC that expansion after Season One will be considered, wouldn't be a bad thing. Though think I read somewhere the league will be capped at only 8 teams, for first couple of years??
As for the players yes a massive "artistic licence" by numbers of OFC players yes there have been a few. But im sure you are as aware as im am that when it comes to the Island nations players there have been very few.
Admit im a one eyed Phoenix fan but i just dont get how people can be okay with one A League club being given a chance while the other is shut out of any chance of getting to the CWC.
Whats so wrong with the Phoenix or someone associated with them putting through some of the reasons they should have been included. Because they sure as hell stack up against any Auckland can provide. Then again i suppose having Billionaires on board counts for double points. Because it sure as hell cant have anything to do with their player development.
But it's not the job of the OFC (or the selection committee who chose the successful bids) to decide whatever is fair re qualification to the CWC.
Their job was to pick the entrants that they think are the best fit for this new OFC Pro League. That's their sole scope. So that's what they have supposedly done, for a league that is going to face alot of challenges to survive.
The CWC is basically a FIFA issue.
Now should OFC share the club selection measurement results with the Nix? Probably.
But then if the Nix get access to that info, do they then lawyer up as in their opinion the results say they should have been included?? The last thing OFC want is for all the goodwill about this new league, to be potentially derailed by a legal sideshow mess, that threatens to overshadow everything.