BY ROMULUS HUTA
THE coaches for the national under-19 and the under-16 teams will be decided by the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) this week.
A meeting that is proposed to take place either today or tomorrow will decide the appointment of candidates for the head coaching roles for the under-19 and the under-16, the SIFF technical department confirms yesterday.
The meeting is expected to be convened by the SIFF technical director Felipe Vega-Arango Alonso for SIFF officials and representatives from the football coaches association.
Several candidates are in the running for the coaching roles for both under-19 and the under-16 squads.
For the national under-16 side, the current senior assistant coach and former national rep Stanley Waita is one of the candidates who is in the running for the head coaching role.
Regarding the under-19, Batram Suri and others are in the running for the head coaching role.
The naming of the coaches is part of preparations toward this year’s respective Oceania championships for both the under-19 and the under-16.
The Oceania Under-19 world cup qualifiers will be held in Tahiti in August while the Oceania Under-16 world cup qualifiers will be held in Honiara in September.
The top two winners from each of the qualifiers will progress to the 2019 FIFA Under-20 and the FIFA Under-17 World Cups respectively.
The host nations of both world cups are yet to be determined by the world governing football body.
Two countries namely Poland and India have submitted formal bids to host the under-20 world cup while three countries namely Rwanda, Kenya and Singapore are in the running to host the under-17 world cup.
FIFA is expected to announce the successful hosts for both tournaments after the FIFA Council meeting this Friday (Saturday Solomon Islands Time) in Bogotá, Colombia.
WITH PIX OF Batram Suri
