Agence France-Presse reports that the winners of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Olympic qualifying tournament will have direct entry into the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The new ruling, decided at a meeting earlier this month by the Bureau of the Organising Committee of the Olympic Football Tournaments, comes into effect at the Athens 2004 Summer Games.
OFC president Basil Scarsella, said direct entry to the Summer Games in both the men’s and women’s competition was “a major breakthrough” and recognition of the region’s ongoing quest for equal recognition. He added, “the ruling supports equality, but more importantly for the Oceania region, it will provide extra motivation for the smaller island nations with the opportunity to grace the Olympic stage just one step away now”.
Scarsella said it was particularly significant for women as up until now only ranked nations from the World Cup qualified for the Olympics.
The OFC is made up by American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu.
