A trailblazing new competition kicks off in Oceania this weekend - but could a similar cross-border league follow in Europe? The OFC Professional League contains two clubs from New Zealand and one each from Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu. OFC Professional League head Stuart Larman says there is huge support for football across the region and expects to see crowds of more than 10,000 in Fiji and the Solomon Islands. "The success of the league will depend on strength of the clubs - so all have strong community links or ingrained community involvement. "The best players in each country are going to get 17 highly competitive matches guaranteed - that is going to be an enormous jump, because more regular, highly competitive football always improves the quality of a player."

Source: BBC January 16, 2026 06:27 UTC