Oceania Football president resigns

WELLINGTON: David Chung has resigned as president of the Oceania Football Confederation, citing personal issues, the organisation said yesterday.

Chung, who was made a senior Fifa vicepresident last September, had been in charge of the confederation since 2011.

‘‘David Chung has resigned from his position effective immediately,’’ the OFC said in a statement. He ‘‘took the decision after much deliberation citing personal reasons.’’

The OFC executive committee is scheduled to meet on April 8.

The OFC was not immediately available for further comment.

Malaysiaborn Chung was initially temporarily appointed to the OFC presidency in 2010 following the oneyear suspension of Tahiti’s Reynald Temarri for breaching Fifa’s ethics and confidentiality rules.

Chung was elected unopposed to the OFC role for a fouryear term in January 2011 and then reelected in 2015.

Chung (55), who is also in charge of the Papua New Guinea FA, has been embroiled in a struggle for the last 18 months with a breakaway body of rival soccer administrators.

Chung’s opponents have alleged he had illegally excluded voters for their candidate John Kapi Natto in the PNGFA elections in 2016. Chung has denied the allegations.

Last year, the rival administrators set up their own soccer federation, the Football Federation PNG (FFPNG), and a club competition, the National Premier League (NPL).

Neither is recognised by the OFC or Fifa.