BY ROMULUS HUTA
IT’S official.
The national under-16 side’s preparation for next year’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Peru will begin Wednesday next week.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) confirms yesterday.
SIFF said head coach Stanley Waita held a meeting last Friday at SIFF Academy with members of the squad who are currently based in Honiara.
“Coach Stanley told the players training will resume next week and November 7th is the proposed date.”
SIFF said some members of the current squad are still out in the provinces holidaying after playing in the September qualifiers.
“Provincial players will join the team soon and SIFF to facilitate for their travelling arrangement to Honiara,” SIFF said.
Meanwhile, Solomon Islands and New Zealand will take part in the 18th edition of the global biennial event as Oceania representatives after finishing as the top two teams in the regional qualifiers held in Honiara last month.
Next year’s youth world cup is scheduled to run from October 5 to 27 across eight host cities in Peru.
Four Asian teams namely Australia, Japan, South Korea and Tajikistan join host nation Peru and the two Oceania reps Solomon Islands and New Zealand, occupying the first seven slots in the 24-team tournament.
Seventeen slots are yet to be filled by teams from UEFA (Europe – 5 teams), CAF (Africa – 4 teams), CONMEBOL (South America – 4 teams) and CONCACAF (Central, North America and Caribbean – 4 teams).
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rick Hou has assured the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) of his government’s support for the Solomon Islands national U-17 team towards their preparations for the world cup through the Ministry of Home Affairs.
