On the eve of the third place match and the final of the FIFA U-17 World Championship New Zealand 1999, FIFA Honorary President, Dr. João Havelange, will be awarded the “Gold Pacific Star” by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

At an official dinner to be hosted by the OFC on Friday, November 26, OFC President Charles J. Dempsey, CBE will honour Dr. João Havelange in the presence of his successor, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and various other FIFA Executive Committee members, for “his outstanding services to Oceania Football”.

The “Gold Pacific Star” is the first ever-official award of the Oceania Football Confederation.

Dr. João Havelange was FIFA President from 1974 – 1998. During the term of his office, the FUTURO Development Program, as well as the FIFA Youth Competitions, such as U-17 and U-20 World Championships were initiated. Furthermore, in this period the number of participating teams at the World Cup increased from 16 to 32 and a Women’s World Cup was played for the first time in 1991.