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The Wantok Cup a possibly defunct international football competition between the national teams of three Melanesian countries: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The Cup was to be a thrice-a-year competition, to be held in July (twice) and September (once), as part of independence commemoration celebrations in the Solomons, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, respectively.〔("Wantok Cup to become annual event" ), Oceania Football Confederation, July 10, 2008〕 The inaugural edition of the Cup was held during independence celebrations in the Solomon Islands, from July 3 to July 7, 2008,〔("Wantok Cup celebrates independence" ), ABC Radio Australia, June 17, 2008〕 and was won by the hosts. Eddie Ngava, General Secretary of the Solomon Islands Football Federation, had stated: "We hope this will be the inaugural start of the Wantok Cup when each of the three countries will be having a competition on each of their countries' independence days."〔("Hopes for Wantok Cup to become regular competition" ), ABC Radio Australia, June 17, 2008〕 The Cup has been described by the Oceania Football Confederation as "a tournament reminiscent of the now defunct Melanesian Cup".〔("Wantok Cup Honiara 2008 - Solomon Islands name 64-man squad" ), Oceania Football Confederation, June 19, 2008〕 Ngava, however, has stated that "these two competitions are not linked in any way".〔("Ngava on the New Wantok Cup Competition" ), ''Solomon Times'', June 27, 2008〕〔("Fiji out of newly formed Wantok Cup" ), FijiLive, July 3, 2008〕 ''Wantok'' is a Tok Pisin and Pijin word which comes from the English "one talk", and means people who speak the same language, belong to the same culture, are friends and help one another out.〔("Wantok" ), Jean-Marc Philibert, Musée de la civilisation, 2000〕 The name was chosen so as to emphasise the similarities of the pidgin languages spoken in the three countries - namely Tok Pisin, Pijin and Bislama.〔 ==Difficulties== From the start, the competition was plagued by financial difficulties. Papua New Guinea's team withdrew from the inaugural edition at the last moment, citing financial constraints, and Vanuatu announced that it would be unable to host the second edition of the Cup, for the same reason. Nonetheless, the Wantok Cup was expected to continue, Vanuatu having pledged to host it in July 2009.〔("Vanuatu delay Wantok Cup" ), ''Solomon Star'', July 18, 2008〕 The 2009 games did not take place. The second edition of the Wantok Cup was then due to be hosted by Vanuatu to coincide with its Independence Day celebrations in July 2010.〔("2011 SP Games Team Starts Preparations" ), ''Solomon Times'', January 8, 2010〕 In March 2010, the ''Vanuatu Daily Post'' commented that the Solomon Islands Football Federation was preparing seriously for the Cup, while the Vanuatu Football Federation was yet to do so.〔("Solomon Islands gearing up for the Wantok Cup" ), ''Vanuatu Daily Post'', March 23, 2010〕 On July 9, the ''Solomon Star'' reported that Papua New Guinea would not be attending, as it was "occupied by other football programs", and that even scheduled host Vanuatu had yet to confirm it would be taking part. The article concluded: "If Vanuatu agrees to host the tournament then it is likely that the Wantok Cup will only feature Solomon Islands and Vanuatu."〔("Proposed Wantok Cup looks gloomy" ), ''Solomon Star'', July 9, 2010〕 There is no record of the July 2010 edition of the Cup having taken place - presumably due to a withdrawal by the hosts. In 2011, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands met for four games, beginning with a match in the Solomons on its Independence Day and culminating in a match held in Vanuatu on the latter's Independence Day, which had been the aim of the Wantok Cup, although the media did not use the Cup's name. Vanuatu won the final match 2-0, and the four matches on aggregate by 3-2. Nonetheless, if one considers the Solomons' Independence Day matches (July 7 & 9) separately from those held around Vanuatu's Independence Day (July 27 & 30), and treats them as separate competitions, then the Solomons won the former 2-1 on aggregate, and Vanuatu the latter 2-0 on aggregate.〔("Bonitos fall to Vanuatu" ), ''Solomon Star'', August 1, 2011〕〔(Solomon Islands men's football team fixtures and results, July to September 2011 ), FIFA〕 No further editions of the Cup have been reported as scheduled; the Cup appears to be defunct as such, or to continue only in an informal manner. Thus, Papua New Guinea never actually competed in a Wantok Cup event. New Caledonia never participated in the adult Wantok Cup either, but sent a national team to the inaugural (and so far only) edition of the Junior Wantok Cup in January 2010. ''(See below)'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wantok Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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