Oceania WCup qualifier moves to Honiara

The second stage of Oceania qualifying for the 2014 World Cup will be held in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara rather than Fiji.

The eight-team Oceania Nations Cup and World Cup qualifying tournament, from June 1 to 12, was to be hosted by Fiji but has been moved after what the Oceania Football Confederation said Thursday was consideration of ''participation, logistics, finance and other matters.''

The recently-completed Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament was also moved away from Fiji.

The Fiji government is pursuing contempt of court charges against Oceania secretary-general Tai Nicholas.

The tournament involves Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu and the winner qualifies for the 2013 Confederations Cup while also progressing to the next stage of World Cup qualifying.

The OFC said there were two bids to host the event and the Solomon Islands were chosen over New Caledonia.

''(The Solomon islands) put forward a strong bid to stage all matches at Lawson Tama Stadium, a 25,000-capacity facility with a FIFA-standard playing surface in the heart of Honiara,'' the OFC said in a statement.

''The stadium is set up well for television and media coverage while the bid document also outlined quality accommodation and training venues.''

The Oceania Nations Cup has been played for eight times. Australia won the tournament on four occasions before leaving Oceania to join the Asian Confederation and New Zealand has also won four titles.

The four top-placed teams from the tournament progress to the next stage of World Cup qualifying - a round-robin, home-and-away playoff series to be played some time between September, 2012 and March, 2013.

The winner of the third stage will then advance to an inter-continental home-and-away playoff against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF - the confederation of North America, Central American and the Caribbean - for a place at the World Cup in Brazil.