New Zealand Football

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New Zealand Football
OFC
Association crest
Founded 1891
FIFA affiliation 1948
OFC affiliation 1966
President Frank van Hattum
Website nzfootball.co.nz

New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the national junior and women's teams (nicknamed the "Football Ferns"), the men's and women's National League (the men's league is known as the ASB Premiership, with a number of tournaments, including the Chatham Cup. The ASB Premiership is played in the New Zealand summer between eight teams. A New Zealand team, Wellington Phoenix FC, play in the Australian A-League.

History

It was founded in 1891, as New Zealand Soccer Association[1] and became officially affiliated with FIFA in 1948. In May 2007, the organisation was renamed New Zealand Football (NZF), replacing the word "soccer" with "football" in line with the common usage in the rest of the world.

In September 2007, the New Zealand female football teams were rebranded. The women's national team changed its name from "SWANZ" to "Football Ferns", the female under-20 team to the "Junior Football Ferns" and the under-17 team became the "Young Football Ferns"[2]

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, New Zealand achieved their best result in their teams' history when they had a 1–1 draw with reigning World champions Italy. Shane Smeltz scored in the 7th minute marking the first time New Zealand had ever led a match at the World Cup.[3] They went on to become the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

Moving to South American confederation

In January 2013, members of the FIFA Executive Committee met in a private meeting convened by Joseph Blatter to discuss the possibilities of moving the New Zealand Football Federation for the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in order to enhance the sport in the country. After the meeting, Blatter said the idea was "ratified" but needed some adjustments.[4][5] This fact provided the New Zealand success in the idea of movement, requiring only a formal request by the association. But in June, the chief executive of the New Zealand Federation, Andy Martin, said his administration has no plans to promote New Zealand Football to high-level competitions for now, meaning that New Zealand should remain in the weak Oceania Football Confederation.[6]

Controversies

In 2015, New Zealand was ruled to have forfeited its place in the 2016 Olympic tournament after fielding an ineligible player in its men's Under-23 team; the decision is being appealed. It was subsequently reported that up to 16 ineligible players had been fielded in the men's Under-23, Under-20 and Under-17 teams between 2011 and 2015.[7]

Shortly followed by the mishandling of the 2016 loan move of Alex Jones from Birmingham City to the Wellington Phoenix. A local public holiday meant that there were no staff at NZ football headquarters to process the required paperwork on the final day of the transfer deadline.

Competitions

Football Federations

Northern Football Federation * Northern Football Federation

See also

Men's

Women's

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ NEW LOOK FOR ‘FOOTBALL FERNS', 4 September 2007.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ "Nova zelândia na CONMEBOL: Os prós e contras da proposta, Revista Placar, January 08, 2013.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "La isla y el fútbol de siglo 21, Diário OLÉ, 8 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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