Hekari in Group C of OFC tourney

 By HENRY MORABANG

HEKARI United have been placed in the Group C of the OFC Champions League final in April in Fiji.

The group, dubbed the group of death, features all four clubs who have once played in the OFC Championship League, formerly O-League final. 

The clubs are Ba (Fiji), Tafea (Vanuatu), Hekari (PNG) and AS Magenta (New Caledonia).

All matches in Group C will be played at Govind Park, Ba. 

Group A, based in Lautoka features Waitakere United, Samoa’s Kiwi, Pirae of Tahiti and the champion club from the Solomon Islands, all matches will be played at Churchill Park.

Prince Charles Park in Nadi hosts Group B where three-time champions Auckland City, take on Dragon (Tahiti), Amicale (Vanuatu) and Nadi (Fiji).

The tournament has undergone a change of format for the 2014 edition and will see 12 of the Pacific’s best teams from eight OFC member association countries contest the competition’s group stage in Fiji from April 7-15.

A draw will determine the all-important order in which the group fixtures will be played. 

The 12 teams have already been split into three groups of four teams, with Ba (Fiji), Nadi (Fiji), Hekari United (PNG), Tafea (Vanuatu), Amicale (Vanuatu), Magenta (New Caledonia), Auckland City (New Zealand), Waitakere United (NZ), AS Pirae (Tahiti), Dragon (Tahiti), Kiwi FC (Samoa) and the as yet to be determined champion club from the Solomon Islands, all vying for four coveted semi-final places.

Each group winner will advance to the home and away semi-finals, while the final four is rounded off with the best placed runner-up joining them in the knock-out stages.

The victorious semi-final teams will then clash in a winner-takes-all final at a pre-determined venue most likely in New Zealand.