OFC release Wynne ineligibility documents

Deklan Wynne arrives at Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker

New Zealand Football will have its work cut out if it is to appeal against an Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Disciplinary Committee's written decision, which sets out in great detail the legal justification for disqualifying the Oly Whites from this month's Olympic qualifiers.

The 19-page Disciplinary Committee decision, complete with another 12 pages of "exhibits" goes into granular detail in debunking New Zealand's arguments about player eligibility clauses and Pacific Games and Fifa regulations, in determining Deklan Wynne was ineligible to play in the match between New Zealand and Vanuatu.

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The thoroughness of the decision stands in contrast to the original 6-line written protest from Vanuatu team manager Laurence Sisi, which did not even manage to spell Wynne's name correctly.

New Zealand Football has 15 days to lodge an appeal to Oceania's Appeals Committee, at a cost of $1500, and chief executive Andy Martin has so far responded by saying: "We will be reviewing the reasons over the next few days and seeking advice as to the most appropriate next steps. However we remain disappointed at the sequence of events that has led to our team being disqualified."

"In the meantime we are supporting the team and working through a wider review of the eligibility information of all players to ensure a situation like this does not occur again."

The summary of facts and legal justification displays a fascinating to-and-from between New Zealand and Oceania, where the parties talk past each other in terms of legal interpretations on football regulations.

The attached paper trail shows Oceania sending New Zealand seven emails over a 24-hour period and a disciplinary committee comprised of Allen Parker (Cook Islands), chairman; Sione Fa'otusia (Tonga), Toetasi Tuiteleleapaga (American Samoa), William Banjoy (Papua New Guinea), and Don Marahare (Solomon Islands), ultimately agreeing Wynne did not meet the criteria set out in FIFA Regulations.

"As the player assumed a new nationality in January 2015 (New Zealand nationality), the player was required under relevant provision article 7 to have either been born in New Zealand, to have lived in New Zealand for five years after reaching the age of 18, or to have a parent or grandparent that was born in New Zealand."

The day after the semifinal against Vanuatu, Oceania requested documentation from New Zealand showing either parents of grandparents were born in New Zealand.

But New Zealand team manager Rob Pickstock said the complaint about eligibility was lodged too late to be considered, pointing to Pacific Games handbook

Shelly Eden, solicitor acting for NZF, then said the Vanuatu protest was "patently incorrect, and therefore not suitable to refer to Fifa".

"NZF understands that OFC is now saying that FIFA regulations apply and the Pacific Games Rules are not the applicable regulations.
In fact the reverse has been represented to NZF, with them having been provided with a handbook for the competition."

New Zealand argued Vanuatu had had ample opportunity to protest earlier, with players names circulated in accordance with Pacific Games rules, and argued Wynne held, for the purposes of football regulations, two nationalities.

However Oceania advised Fifa rules took precedence over Pacific Games rules, and the applicability of this comprised the final statement of the written decision - apart from matters related to any appeal of the decision.

New Zealand Football advised it was led to believe Pacific Games rules were the applicable regulations with respect to determining the eligibility of its players.

"The committee did not agree with NZF's submission in this regard.

"On 25 October 2013, NZF signed a FIFA entry form stating that it undertook to particiapte in the preliminary competitions for the Men's Olympic Football Tournament. In doing so, NZF undertook to observe the olympic regulations wherby art. 16 prescribes participating associations to accept that all the disciplinary matters will be delath with by the OFC..."

This article states that all disciplinary and administrative matters shall be dealt with by Fifa or its respective confederation.

Meanwhile in a letter to All Whites players, Martin has apologised "for the stress and concern that this difficult situation has caused the team, management, families and the wider football community".

And he's also alluded to the complications of having Olympic qualifiers bundled up with Pacific Games.

"Playing a qualifying tournament within another event (in this case the Pacific Games), has meant considerable confusion, which we believe had been clarified in advance of the event. However, it now seems this was not the case.

He advised NZF was reviewing all of its internal processes and eligibility information" to ensure it does not put itself in a position where this could happen again".

"This includes a review of the information held on individual players, to ensure all players meet the criteria set out in our National Talent Centre parents and players pack.

"If additional information is required from you, (team manager) Rob Pickstock will soon be in contact. Rob will let you know what we need, and how to go about submitting this additional information to our online registration system. To those of you affected, thank you in advance for your help with this."

"As you know, we have been working hard since early 2014 to build a better professional football operation in New Zealand, to support our shared ambition to qualify for and win at World Cup events on a regular basis. While we have made some great progress - evidenced by our Football Ferns and U20 Men making history at their recent World Cups - we still have a long way to go. This week has shown us that we have work to do to ensure that the right processes and systems are in place to protect us from challenges such as this. I want to assure you that we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to achieve this."

Written decision of the OFC disciplinary committee - read the document here:

Exhibits - Decision of the OFC disciplinary committee - read the document here: