“This is a football crazy country and together with the government and those at the Solomon Islands Football Federation . . . we want to provide an opportunity through football for young girls and boys of this country to fulfil their dreams,” he said.
Before flying to Honiara, Infantino was in Port Moresby where he opened the new headquarters of the Papua New Guinea Football Association and met Prime Minister James Marape.
Exhibition matches
As in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and elsewhere, Infantino was involved in an exhibition match between a FIFA Legends’ Select and the local legends’ XI.
During his tour of the Pacific, he has opened and named new facilities and met with political and football leaders.
He has highlighted the love of football in the region and praised the new facilities and local officials.
There were no new announcements of money from FIFA but Infantino’s visit has somewhat reinforced the importance of Oceania to FIFA, its smallest confederation.
Infantino stressed the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was being celebrated in the whole of Oceania.
“The ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup is the most inclusive and greatest ever because it belongs to the entire Pacific region, and it is inspiring people all over the world,” he said.
During the World Cup, FIFA high performance specialist April Heinrichs told a workshop held in Wellington, New Zealand, that there was potential in the Pacific.
“I think we can have an OFC country, including New Zealand, that qualifies for the FIFA U-17 World Cup more consistently,” the former United States international said.
- The World Cup final is on Sunday evening in Sydney with Spain playing the winner of tonight’s Australia and England semifinal.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.