Soccer in Nauru

Soccer is a minor sport in the island country of Nauru. The country is not a member of FIFA, has no official national team, and lacks any organised competition, although a league existed in the past.

History

Soccer was introduced to Nauru in the 1960s, by migrant workers from Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. It enjoyed a period of relative popularity, and at one point the island had a six-team league. However, soccer was eventually supplanted by Australian rules football, which was brought by Australians working in the phosphate industry. A 2009 World Soccer article noted that organised soccer had "fallen apart" on Nauru, and that the island's was unlikely to ever field a team at the Pacific Games (the main regional tournament for non-FIFA teams.[1]

Representative teams

The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) suggests that it is "quite likely that there has been no official Nauru national football team". However, unofficial representative teams have been organised on at least two occasions. In 1994, a combined Nauru team played a team of expatriate workers from Solomon Islands, winning 2–1. Another Nauruan select team was raised in 2014, playing a team from the Nauru Regional Processing Centre to celebrate World Refugee Day.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Micronesia is struggling to keep the game afloat, writes Steve Menary", World Soccer, 19 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Nauru 2014, RSSSF. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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