After 48 years of existence, Oceania Football Confederation now have their first ever mascot, Pasifi-ika, which made its debut at the FIFA World Cup™ in Sao Paulo, Brazil this week.
OFC’s new mascot was the creation of Year 8 students from DAV Primary School in Ba, Fiji Islands. The classmates participated in the recent OFC Mascot Competition that was run through the OFC Just Play Programme, in conjunction with partners UNICEF and the Australian Sports Commission.
OFC Head of Social Responsibility and International Relations, Franck Castillo, said that the goal was to come up with a mascot that represents the social values of the organisation and its partnerships.
“The OFC mascot will become a presence at all OFC activities, including competitions, and will promote the positive value of sports including important lessons or messages associated with the Just Play Programme in the Pacific,” said Castillo.
Pasifi-ika’s entry was accompanied by the following description: “The mascot chosen represents our rich ocean and its ecosystem. It also reflects how Pacific countries treasure their marine life and mineral resources.”
“The top part of the dolphin is coloured blue, yellow and green which represents the OFC logo. The light blue in the middle represents our lovely Pacific Ocean, and the golden colour represents the vast amount of mineral resources that boosts the Pacific economy.”
“The brown colour represents the Melanesian group and the tapa print represents the Polynesian group. This makes our Pacific Islands unique and rich in cultural diversity.”
The Fiji winners will receive a brand new computer for their school pre-loaded with educational and teaching resources thanks to UNICEF. The winning team will also be given a set of exclusive OFC t-shirts for the class as part of their prize package.
The next stage will see a song competition launched in September 2014 which will become the anthem for Pasifi-ika as it travels around Oceania.
OFC
