The American Samoa Pago Youth FC team has withdrawn from a Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)-run qualifying stage tournament due to the Pacific-wide measles outbreak.

The OFC has confirmed American Samoa's Pago youth FC team has withdrawn and will not participate in the 2020 Qualifying Stage tournament. 

The team withdrew due to the measles epidemic in Pacific which they are concerned about.

 “American Samoan club Pago Youth FC withdrew from the Qualifying Stage tournament due to measles concerns in the Pacific,” OFC said. 

 “The qualifying tournament will take place across three match days at Ngahue Reserve in Auckland on January 25, 28, and 31,” OFC said. 

 The three teams that will go on and participate in the tournament include Cook Islands (Tupapa Maraerenga), Tonga (Vetiongo) and Samoa Samoa (Lupe Ole Soaga) who will fight their way up to join other groups in the Champions League 2020 tournament. 

Oceania Football Confederation statement in clarifying the new changes of the tournament said the winner of the Qualifying Stage will compete in the Champion League tournament against Tahiti, Fiji and New Zealand, which will be held in Auckland. 

 “The runner-up in qualifying will enter Group C with AS Magenta (New Caledonia), the S-League winner from the Solomon Islands, and AS Tiare Tahiti (Tahiti),”  

In the OFC Champions League 2020, Group A will play their matches in Papua New Guinea on February 16-22 with Group B set to take place in Vanuatu from February 15-21. New Caledonia will host Group C, and Group D will be contested in Tahiti with both groups running on March 1-7.