The OFC Champions League 2017 was the 16th edition of an oceanic championship competition for club teams in football. The qualification took place between January 28 and February 3, 2017 in Tonga . The group stage began on February 25, 2017. This season included new mode changes. The actual group stage was increased to 16 participants, with the seven strongest countries ( Fiji , New Caledonia , New Zealand , Papua New Guinea , the Solomon Islands , Tahiti and Vanuatu ) each sending two clubs. In addition, the winner and runners-up came from the qualifying round with the champions from American Samoa , the Cook Islands , Samoa and Tonga. These four teams played the last two participants in the group stage in a round-robin tournament everyone against everyone.
In the group stage, the sixteen teams played the semi-finals in four groups of four, for which only the group winners qualified. The group stage took place in tournament form in New Caledonia, New Zealand and Tahiti in February and March 2017.
The Auckland City FC won the title for the seventh time in a row and for the ninth time overall and qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2017 in the United Arab Emirates.
1On 2 February 2017, has OFC the Hekari United FC , the champion of Papua New Guinea, because of a dispute with the Football Association from the OFC Champions League excluded. On February 8, 2017, they were replaced by Madang FC , third place in the national championship.
qualification
The qualification phase took place from January 28 to February 3, 2017 in Nukuʻalofa ( Loto-Tonga Soka Center ), Tonga . The draw was held on August 24, 2016 in Auckland , New Zealand. The four clubs played a round-robin tournament and the winner and the runners-up moved into the group stage with the other 14 directly qualified participants .
The group stage took place between February 25 and March 18, 2017 in New Caledonia (Groups A and B), New Zealand (Group C) and Tahiti (Group D). The 16 clubs were divided into four groups with four teams each, with the restriction that clubs from the same country could not be drawn into the same group. In each group the teams played against each other once. The four group winners advanced to the semi-finals .