By Taromane Martin
THE Town Ground rugby stadium will host matches for 2018 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Under-16 championship when Solomon Islands hosts the 18th edition of the biennial international youth football championship.
Sources say the rugby stadium could likely host Pool B matches while the Pool A matches will be played at the Lawson Tama Stadium.
The stadium is expected to be closed any time soon to allow SIFF’s turf specialists to upgrade and do maintenance on it to meet FIFA and OFC standards.
Meanwhile Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Gerald Oiaka said the partnership between SIFF and SIRUF is positive and encourages every federation to work together.
“SIRUF really appreciate this partnership. This is a good partnership not only for the two federations but for sports in general.
“It is very important that all federations work together in such circumstances to help move sports in our country forward,” Oiaka told SunSPORTS last month.
The 2018 OFC U-16 Championship will take place from September 8-22 here in Honiara and will see Vanuatu, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tahiti and Samoa gracing our shores.
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Solomon Islands (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Vanuatu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Papua New Guinea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First match(es) will be played on 9 September 2018. Source: OFC
Group B[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Fiji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | New Caledonia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Tahiti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Samoa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First match(es) will be played on 10 September 2018.
