With only days left until the Oceania Women’s Football Olympic Qualifiers will be held at Tuana’imato, preparations are underway with Football Federations Samoa working hard to get the last details in place.

FFS is hosting the first global FIFA event of the year, which means welcoming eight international teams, fans, and media to Apia over nine days starting Wednesday 7 February.

Samoa Observer visited the grounds and met staff while they were preparing the last measures. Since mid-November the federation has planned for this event, then there are only details left before the official inspection.

Mose Faimata was given the responsibility to paint the lines across the field, ensuring they were straight and accurate according to the tournament’s standard.

“I’m just doing my job, but the real excitement is when the tournament starts, then I’ll be here not only to work but also to watch the games,” said Faimata. 

Maeli Tali and his workmate, Keli Sianuua, were asked to remove and clean all eleven speakers on the stadium before re-installing them again – all to ensure good audio in the stands.

“Our job is not just preparations; we will also be here during the matches, looking after supporters and making sure that no one causes trouble, but I am also looking forward to cheering on our women’s team when they play,” said Sianuua.

The Football Federation has hosted similar events before, and they are used to having to comply with the long list of requirements that comes with arranging international games.

In an event like this, there are, for example, rules for media and anti-doping, as well as the need for official flagpoles, one for each participating country.

Inside the headquarters, Filipez Ikenasio, a volunteer for the football federation, said his role will be to operate the cameras that will capture the actions across the tournament. It is an important job since the games will be broadcast across Oceania. 

“I am currently studying the camera angles sent to us by the Oceania Football Federation,” he said.

The technical director of the federation, Ravinesh Kumar, will follow the games from the stands. He told Samoa Observer he is excited for the tournament.

”I think this is very good for Samoa. In terms of economic growth but also in terms of promoting Samoa to the world, to the football family.”

He believes there could also be a competing advantage to the host country.

”I have seen that trend many times, especially at the youth level. It has happened several times that the host country has qualified from the Oceania region. I know that Fiji did it, Vanuatu did it, Tahiti also. I think the Solomon Islands as well”.

How would you rate Samoa's chances to qualify for the Olympics?

”I will not say that Samoa has a chance to win or lose, but I will say that Samoa will be very competitive in this competition”.

Factbox:

The contenders of the tournament are American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Island, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Zealand and Samoa.

Samoa has been drawn in Group B and will play Vanuatu (February 7 at 5 pm), New Zeeland (February 10 at 5 pm) and Tonga (February 13 at 4 pm).

The two best teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals (February 16). The final will be on February 19.