UEFA helped the Oceania Football Confederation

 The UEFA Assist football development programme has helped the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) launch its new online education tool - OFC Learn.

National football associations across Oceania will benefit from a new educational platform thanks to UEFA Assist, UEFA's programme that supports the on-going development of football outside of Europe.

OFC Learn is a new free platform, funded by Assist and inspired by guidance from the UEFA Academy, which will revolutionise the way people learn by offering different educational resources, such as online courses, webinars, articles and group discussions, to OFC national associations and their staff, sharing examples of European best practice.

The launch of the first phase, which will have content added to it on a regular basis, focuses on referee and coach education materials, but will grow further to include corporate, administration medical, marketing and communications fields, with overall objectives to build capacity in all 13 OFC member associations.

It is the latest global initiative supported by Assist, which has channelled UEFA support to more than 200 football development projects in close to 60 countries worldwide since its creation in 2017.

Eva Pasquier, UEFA head of international relations

"We are delighted to share experiences from UEFA and its Member Associations to enhance the fantastic work done by our colleagues from OFC.

"This is truly an excellent resource that will have a lasting impact across the entire region.

"We look forward to continuing our collaboration with OFC and developing even more exciting content over the coming months."

Franck Castillo, OFC general secretary

"Education plays a huge role in football development across our region and that is why online learning is so important, especially in these times of the pandemic.

"No matter the circumstances, we are responsible for equipping our people with the tools and resources to continue to ensure football thrives.

"While the first phase is launching today, we are expanding OFC Learn to other educational fields as well.

“I would like to thank our partner UEFA Assist; OFC is incredibly grateful for their funding and continued support."

UEFA Assist: putting football first around the world

UEFA launched Assist, a football development programme, in 2017. Its objective: to share the experience and know-how of UEFA and its member associations beyond Europe.

By working closely with UEFA's five sister confederations and FIFA, Assist has built on existing collaborations with the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America), CONMEBOL (South America) and the OFC (New Zealand and South Pacific island nations).

UEFA Assist initiatives focus on four main goals:

• Building capacity

• Developing youth football

• Strengthening infrastructure

• Supporting UEFA member associations to create their own solidarity programmes