As Football Queensland celebrates the enduring popularity of football across Australia with record growth in participation, the recent visit of the Papua New Guinea team to the state serves as a timely reminder of football and Queensland’s connection within the Pacific Islands.
The return of Papua New Guinea’s Senior Men’s National team to Queensland shores earlier this month, in the lead-up to their 2024 Men’s OFC Nations Cup tournament campaign in Vanuatu and Fiji, continues to highlight the strong and enduring relationships built between our nations, facilitated by the game.
Queensland’s geographic proximity to the Pacific nations provides a unique opportunity to lead by example in fostering regional cooperation through sport, leveraging football as a common language among diverse communities to positively deepen connections and contribute to the development of both the game and the region.
“Football has a power that goes far beyond the pitch. It is a game that brings together communities and fosters connections and understandings that transcend national borders; with football there is a connection that doesn’t need to be manufactured,” Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said.
“Football Queensland’s long-established collaborations with the Island nations stand as a testament to the fact that this diplomatic exchange is already successfully happening, week in and week out, on football fields across the state. Other sporting codes have to push their case to build greater connections and drive diplomacy between our great sporting nations, whereas football is already doing it.
“Football’s extensive and deeply rooted participation and supporter base across both our communities only solidifies the game’s unmatched potential to break down barriers and act as a powerful catalyst for diplomacy and unity like no other, a prime example being the CommBank Matildas’ FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ campaign where PNG-Irish Queenslander Mary Fowler took the spotlight.”
Football Queensland’s engagement and diplomatic exchange with the Pacific Islands through football has been a continuous and fruitful collaboration that has only further ingrained the mutual passion of the game across each nation’s identity.
“The ongoing involvement of Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu in both Football Queensland events and through the use of Queensland facilities for training camps and friendly matches against NPL and FQPL Men’s teams underscores a partnership that is already well-established and mutually fruitful,” Cavallucci said.
“This September, FQ is also hosting the 2024 Pacific Championships, a significant carnival on the youth and junior football calendar that is designed to connect top junior Pacific Nations football teams with Australian sides through competition and sportsmanship.
“We were also excited to have welcomed three Papua New Guinea sides to Townsville this month as they participated in the esteemed Filippo Mele Memorial Carnival, North Queensland’s oldest football competition as it celebrated its 40th birthday.
“These interactions fostered through football across the Pacific are neither new nor sporadic, as they embody a strong and continuous dialogue of respect and camaraderie between Australia and the Pacific neighbours, uniting us through our shared passion for the game.
“As Football Queensland strives to deliver on our key target of establishing a Home of Football in Queensland, we are not just building infrastructure, we are laying the foundation for stronger relationships and deeper connections with our Pacific neighbours by providing a dedicated space for visiting national teams to train, play and engage in advanced education and development sessions for players and coaches.
“As a platform that will facilitate and advocate for the ongoing support for football development in the Pacific, the Home of Football will not only enhance the sporting prowess of our Pacific neighbours but also foster stronger connections within the broader Asia-Pacific region and showcase the full off-pitch impact of our sport.”
Warren Moon, the seasoned NPL Queensland and A-Leagues coach currently leading Papua New Guinea’s Senior Men’s national team alongside a Queensland-rich coaching team, further underscores the strength the existing connection football has forged with the Pacific to drive initiatives to bolster talent pathways and extended collaborative projects through mutual goals of growth and development.
“The closely aligned history between us and the Pacific has seen new programs set up in PNG which haven’t existed before, as we continue to identify areas that can strengthen the player, coach and referee talent development pathways and foster additional partnerships with the greater Asia-Pacific nations” Moon said.
“I believe the history between our countries is such that we could be doing more to help out our Pacific neighbours by using football to provide pathway visas for young Pacific Island footballers to expose them to NPL football.
“There are more natural talents and sport ambassadors like Vanuatu national team captain and 2023/24 treble winning Central Coast Mariners star player Brian Kaltak in the Pacific region who, if brought into the Australian football setup and nurtured, will only strengthen our domestic leagues and support our broader diplomatic relations well into the future.”