Boxwidth: | 250 |
Football in Palau | |
Union: | Palau Football Association |
Country: | Palau |
Sport: | association football |
Nationalteam: | men's national team |
The sport of association football in the country of Palau is run by the Palau Soccer Association. The association administers the national football team, as well as the Palau Soccer League.
See main article: Palau national football team. Palau is one of the few sovereign states not to be a FIFA member and is only an associate member of the OFC. This means the nation does not have a national team competing in OFC Nations Cup qualifiers or FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Palau national team instead tend to play small-scale matches against other non-FIFA members. They play their matches at the 4,000 capacity PCC Track and Field Stadium (National Stadium) in the old capital of Koror.
See main article: List of football clubs in Palau. There does not seem to be fixed clubs in Palau. Instead, teams are put together only once a year, for the Palau Soccer League. Team Bangladesh is the oldest club in Palau, founded in 2004.
See main article: Palau Soccer League. The Palau Soccer Association currently runs one domestic football tournament for the amateur teams in the country. This tournament, the Palau Soccer League has been contested since 2004[1] with 3 of the 8 seasons so far won by Team Bangladesh.
See main article: Palau Youth Soccer League. As well as the adult league, since 2013, the Palau Soccer Association has been running the Palau Youth Soccer League for young players to help their development.
In addition to the Palau Soccer League, football has also been introduced to the Belau Games, with the inaugural tournament contested in 2011. Unlike the Palau Soccer League which is club based, this appears to be a regional football competition.