Congress
The first rumblings of discontent between New Zealand Football's most recent administration and OFC came in January 2015.
OFC were disappointed NZF didn't send acting president Mark Aspden or chief executive Andy Martin to their elective congress in Papua New Guinea - a meeting held every second year when members lobby to win votes to earn a spot on the eight-strong, decision making OFC executive committee.
OFC describe the congress as "the most important cog in the governing body's wheel", and felt NZF showed a lack of respect by sending recent board member Phillip Barry instead of a senior leader. Unsurprisingly, NZF failed to earn a seat on the executive committee.
New Zealand have had strong representation on the executive committee over the last decade through Fred De Jong and Frank Van Hattum but, almost incredibly, the confederation's most powerful member now has no vote.
Zurich
In January, NZF and the 10 other Oceania nations unanimously agreed to vote to give Sepp Blatter another four years as Fifa president. But when American and Swiss federal corruption investigations hit Fifa's doorstep on May 31, New Zealand were the only Oceania country to change heart.
Despite the voting process being a secret ballot, NZF trumpeted their decision to the media, which upset many members of OFC.
Under Blatter's watch, millions were ploughed into football development in the region (about US$120 million since 1999), leading to a marked lift in the competitiveness of nations like Tahiti and New Caledonia, especially at age-group level. PNG were also awarded the Under-20 Women's World Cup recently, a decision that was apparently heavily backed by Blatter.
Martin then offered some veiled criticism of Blatter's supporters - and by implication the other OFC nations.
"I was surprised a lot of people didn't see a need for change," said Martin. "It was surprising [they] didn't react to the news of last week."
Papua New Guinea
Tensions in Zurich between NZF and OFC were high, but they escalated when Martin returned home.
Martin hinted his organisation might have already been punished for their vote when he saw the demanding draw for the Olympic qualifying tournament in PNG.
"Over the weekend while we were in the air, the announcement's come out that the fixtures are going to be five games in 10 days. So you can read into that what you will," Martin told 3news. Asked if the ambitions of NZF were out of line with other Oceania members, Martin said, "that's where we're starting to look".
"We can't be held back by being part of a confederation where we're being pulled to the lowest common denominator."
Olympic qualifiers
Tensions rose again in July when All Whites coach Anthony Hudson caused a stir in PNG by complaining about the "crazy, substandard conditions" for the Olympic qualifying tournament before he had stepped foot in the country.
His comments caught the ire of OFC president David Chung, who is also president of the Papua New Guinea Football Association.
Ineligibility
New Zealand broke Fifa's eligibility rules during the Olympic qualifying tournament and OFC punished them by kicking them out of the competition.
The Herald has revealed OFC are investigating a claim from a member association that New Zealand used ineligible players to win the under-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in American Samoa this year.
Where now?
The last two weeks have been hell for NZF, but they haven't been great for OFC, either. The ineligibility saga might have played out exactly the same way even with a healthy relationship but now, surely, it is time to build bridges.
It's too late for the Deklan Wynne/Oly-Whites saga, but any other potential ineligibility fallout needs to be handled by calmer heads. There is too much to lose for both parties.
