Soccer is a minor sport in the island country of
Nauru. The country is not a member of
FIFA.
History
The most popular
code of football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in Nauru has long been
Australian rules football which was introduced during the early 20th century by Australians working in the
phosphate industry. Soccer had been introduced as early as the 1890s but was overwhelmed by the organisation of Australian rules.
In 1954, local rugby and soccer leagues were all wound up as the popularity of Australian rules football on the island skyrocketed.
Soccer was re-introduced in the 1960s, by migrant workers from
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
,
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
, and
Tuvalu
Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...
. It enjoyed a period of relative popularity, and at one point the island had a six-team league. The all-time top scorer for the
Tuvalu national football team
The Tuvalu national football team is the international football team of Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is played at the club and international level. The Tuvalu national team draws players from the Tuvalu A-Division and trains at the Tuvalu Sports ...
,
Alopua Petoa, is from Nauru.
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 Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...
(the main regional tournament for
non-FIFA teams).
In the 2019-2020 budget report by the
Government of Nauru
The politics of Nauru take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nauru is the head of government of the executive branch. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the ...
it was noted that all available open spaces on the island are used for Australian Rules Football, making it difficult to promote other sports such as soccer and
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
.
Representative teams
The
Nauru Soccer Federation has unsuccessfully applied for membership in the
Oceania Football Confederation and
FIFA in the past.
The
Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) suggests that it is "quite likely that there has been no official Nauru national soccer team." However, unofficial representative teams have been organised on at least two occasions. On 2 October 1994, a combined Nauru team played a team of expatriate workers from Solomon Islands in
Denigomodu
Denigomodu is a district in the western part of the island of Nauru. It is the most populous district in Nauru.
It houses the expatriate housing compound "The Location". This makes it Nauru's largest settlement by population. 25.7% of the people ...
, winning 2–1. Another Nauruan select team was raised in 2014, playing a team from the
Nauru Regional Processing Centre
The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Gover ...
to celebrate
World Refugee Day
World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniv ...
.
In 2020, Nauru Soccer Federation vice-president Kaz Cain announced that Nauru was considering creating its first-ever official national side for a 2021 tournament in Hawaii.
Nauru Soccer League hoax
In 2020, a website for the new Nauru Soccer League appeared online. However, no such league existed and individuals involved with the sport on the island clarified that it was a hoax.
Nauru football venue
See also
*
Nauru Soccer Federation
*
Australian rules football in Nauru
Australian rules football in Nauru (typically referred to as "football", "Australian Football" or less commonly as "AFL") dates back to the 1910s and quickly established itself as the national sport of the country. Today, it has an overall partici ...
References
{{Non-FIFA teams