Oceania officials, under the guidance of recently elected president Reynald Temarii and newly appointed general secretary Tai Nicholas, plan to phase out the present cup competition, which is contested only by countries from this region, by 2007 and replace it with a sponsored event featuring big-name international teams.
This, they believe, would draw crowds, gain television coverage and attract corporate backers for the sport. In turn the extra cash generated would help develop soccer through the Pacific islands.
Australia and New Zealand would probably be seeded into the first tournament, with a successful Asian nation - South Korea or Japan - and a South American country invited to take part in a round-robin tournament. In later years a European nation could be invited.
This year the Oceania Nations Cup was staged in Adelaide, and while 12,000 turned up at the 16,000-capacity Hindmarsh Stadium to watch the Socceroos beat the Kiwis early in the tournament, crowds for games matching the Pacific Island nations against each other were pitiful.
The Oceania Nations Cup, which determines the top team in FIFA's smallest and least powerful region, could be shelved in favour of a four-nation tournament designed to attract top Asian, European and South American teams.
