Wellington Phoenix’s June pre-season tour to Fiji has been finalised with tour sponsor, Fiji Airways, announcing today there will be four matches across two match days, Saturday 27 June and Tuesday 30 June.
The players will have some rest and recreation time upon arrival, but this will soon be followed by some solid training as they prepare for their first match day of the tour which will see the Wellington Phoenix Academy side play the Fiji National U23 side, followed by the Wellington Phoenix against the Fiji National side in Suva on Saturday, June 27, at the ANZ Stadium.
The second match day will see the same teams square off against each other in Ba on Tuesday, June 30, at Govind Park.
This is the first time the Wellington Phoenix, along with the Phoenix Academy team, will be touring together as they head out on the inaugural Fiji Airways Wellington-Nadi direct flight on June 25.
Fiji Airways Executive General Manager Sales and Marketing, Otto Gergye says that the country is already gearing up for what will be a huge celebration of football.
“We’re still a couple of months away, but ever since we announced the tour earlier this month we can feel the buzz in the air, and the excitement about having the Wellington Phoenix and our very own Roy Krishna in our country,” said Gergye.
“We know that Wellingtonians and Phoenix fans are very excited about the games as the special fare tickets we had for the inaugural flight from Wellington to Fiji sold out almost overnight.
“Given its popularity, we are glad to announce that we have launched another special fare of NZD$699 return (from Wellington to Nadi) so that more fans can join the team on tour. These tickets, which are 32% of the normal fare) will be on sale on our website till Feb 22,” he concluded.
The ANZ Stadium in Suva seats about 15,000 and tickets are expected to be sold out. Details for the purchase of match tickets will be released shortly.
MATCH DETAILS:
Game Day 1: Saturday June 27th, ANZ National Stadium, Suva
3pm – Fiji U23 vs Phoenix Premiers/Academy
5:30pm – Fiji National Team vs Wellington Phoenix
Game Day 2: Tuesday June 30th, Govind Park, Ba (2 hours drive from Nadi)
4pm – Fiji U23 vs Phoenix Premiers/Academy
6pm – Fiji National Team vs Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix General Manager, David Dome said the team are pumped and ready to take on this unique challenge, and are excited to have fans join them on the journey.
“The fans are a big part of what we do and we’re so excited to have all of them join us on the inaugural flight out to Fiji,” said Dome.
“Fiji Airways is doing these amazing special fare deals and it’s such a great opportunity to get to see some quality football while enjoying everything else the tropical paradise offers during our winter,” he concluded.
“We have already lined up intensive training for the boys so it will not be all fun and games for them though we have also set aside time for some solid team bonding,” said Phoenix Head Coach Ernie Merrick.
Merrick is also willing to let Fijian striker Roy Krishna put his country first and play for the Fiji National team.
“Roy is a real asset to the Phoenix but I think that he should represent his country, and if he scores a few goals against us – fantastic. The more he scores, the happier I’ll be,” said Merrick.
Fiji Airways, in conjunction with the Fiji Football Association (FFA), announced its partnership with New Zealand’s only professional football team, the Wellington Phoenix, to celebrate their soon-to-be-launched Wellington to Nadi flights earlier this month.
Fiji Airways currently operates up to 13 weekly services between Auckland and Fiji, and two weekly services between Christchurch as Nadi. Fiji Airways is the only airline to offer child discounted airfares as well as a daily business class travel option directly from New Zealand to Fiji. Come June 25, it will be the only airline flying directly between Wellington and Fiji all year-round.
