FCF President Gilles Tavergeux officially opened the facility Photo: FCF Foot
The New Caledonia Football Federation (FCF) has opened its second academy, focusing on the 13-15 year old age group.
FCF's president Gilles Tavergeux officially opened the facility, following a partnership signed with Païta's Sainte-Marie high school, which belongs to New Caledonia's Catholic education network.
The first batch of some 33 boarding students (20 boys and 13 girls) will start the school year on 17 February.
New Caledonia's first established academy, hosted by Do Kamo high school on the same model, caters for the 15-17 year old classes.
The whole project was funded by FIFA's Oceania's Football Confederation (OFC) as part of a scheme to foster "excellence" in Pacific islands youth.
New Caledonia's Football Federation has officially opened its second academy. Photo: FCF Foot
In this project, one of the key players within OFC is 1998 World Cup winner with France, Christian Karembeu, who is from New Caledonia.
New Caledonia's national selections of under-17s and under-20s recently qualified for their next respective World Cups.
Tavergeux recently told reporters that from now on, he wanted New Caledonia's football teams to "take part in every OFC World Cup qualifying round and finish with the best".
OFC also announced last week its plans to launch a champions' league competition to be played in six steps between January and May 2026].
This would involve up to ten professional clubs from the Pacific region, including from the islands, but also Australia and Hawai'i.
The winning club would join FIFA's Champions World Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
OFC secretary-general Franck Castillo told media while presenting the project: "It's a true revolution."
