For the first time in history, the Solomon Islands Football Federation will host an international futsal team at home.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) will welcome the Australian national team, the Futsalroos, for the 2024 edition of the PacificAus Sports Futsal Series.
The three-match international friendly series will be played at Friendship Hall from February 21-25 between the national Kurukuru Futsal Team of Solomon Islands and national Futsalroos of Australia.
The International Futsal series match days are Wednesday 21 February, Friday 23 February, and Sunday 25 February, at 6pm local time.
SIFF CEO Leonard Paia and Australian High Commission Minister Counsellor Lindsay Buckingham announced the launch of this year’s edition.
This partnership has been made possible by the Australian Government through PacificAus Sports, Football Australia, and Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF).
Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy MP said:
“Australia and the Solomon Islands have a close and enduring friendship and a shared passion for sport.
“The Australian Government is proud to partner with Football Australia to support the Futsalroos to take part in this three-match series.
“The PacificAus Sports program creates new opportunities for Pacific athletes to play, grow and train together, and brings our countries closer together through sport.”
Australian High Commissioner Rod Hilton said:
“This series complements Australia’s regional sport for development program, Team Up, which launched in Solomon Islands in November 2023.
“The development of all elite athletes starts at the grassroots; and Australia is proud to be partnering with Solomon Islands to develop the next generation of Solomon Islands sports stars.”
The partnership has continued to flourish, with the senior national women’s team participating in the Pacific Women’s Four Nations Tournament in Canberra in 2022, and the PacificAus Sports International Futsal Series which Kurukuru attended in Sydney last year.
SIFF’s Paia said they are pleased to be given another opportunity to host another of the Australian national teams.
In 2019, SIFF also hosted the West Field Junior Matildas in Honiara.
“We are very excited to host this historical tour of the mighty Futsalroos here in Honiara,” Paia said.
“As a mad futsal nation in the Pacific region, it is highly anticipated that the 2024 edition of the PacificAus Sports International Futsal series will give futsal fans in and around the country a taste of world-class futsal brilliance from the Futsalroos against our young development Kurukuru team,” he added.
The 2024 edition of the PacificAus Sports Futsal series is a testimony to the steadily growing partnership between Football Australia and the Solomon Islands Football Federation, made possible by the strong support for the partnership by the Australian Government through PacificAus Sports.
SIFF has prepared a new team for this year’s series, focusing on developing the next generation of players for the Oceania Futsal World Cup qualifiers in 2026.
The series will be live-streamed via the SIFF Facebook page, and public tickets will be available at the SIFF Academy Office next Monday 12th February 2024.