Soccer: Vanuatu Cup venue under spotlight

A venue inspection in Vanuatu this weekend will determine whether New Zealand's soccer World Cup qualifying campaign will strike another snag.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) will assess Port Vila's stadium before confirming whether the All Whites match with Vanuatu will proceed as planned on November 17.

The match has already been rescheduled after concerns the stadium's surface, security and player facilities were not up to standard.

New Zealand were originally meant to travel to Vanuatu before their disrupted home and away series against Fiji but the OFC opted to give local organisers another month to address concerns at the venue.

OFC competitions manager Seamus Marten was hopeful the issues had been resolved.

"Reports out of Vanuatu are encouraging," said Marten who said an OFC representative would make a first-hand inspection this weekend.

The All Whites have already been distracted by a visa row that saw the opening leg against Fiji in Auckland earlier this month postponed by FIFA after the New Zealand government refused to admit goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau due to his family connections with the Fijian military regime.

New Zealand won the return leg in Fiji 2-0 and may have to play postponed leg on neutral ground, possibly Noumea.

- NZPA