Pétanque in Vanuatu

Pétanque has been played informally across Vanuatu's islands for decades, a legacy of the archipelago's time as the New Hebrides, jointly administered by France and Britain until independence in 1980. Organized competition has ebbed and flowed since, and in 2026 a grassroots push in the capital, Port Vila, is working to bring structured play back after a long gap.

Federation

The Fédération de Pétanque du Vanuatu, based in Port-Vila (BP 703), is the country's federation affiliated to the FIPJP (Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal), per the federation's own listing in the FIPJP's official national-federation records. Its president is Jerry Moli.

Federation Contact

The federation's own record in the FIPJP's official national-federation database gives a phone number of +678 41 106 and an email of vanuatu@fipjp.com, with correspondence directed to the president, M. Jerry Moli, at the Port-Vila address above. No separate federation website or social media presence could be found.

Oceania Confederation

Vanuatu is one of the six FIPJP-affiliated members of the Confédération de Pétanque de l'Océanie (Oceania Confederation), alongside Australia, New Caledonia, French Polynesia (Tahiti), New Zealand, and Palau - confirmed directly against FIPJP's own Oceania Confederation federations page, which lists exactly these six and no seventh member. Correction (2026-10-10): a prior version of this page and several sibling country pages described the confederation as having seven members including Wallis and Futuna; Wallis and Futuna does regularly compete in (and has hosted) the Oceania Championship, but it does so through its FFPJP affiliation rather than as an independent FIPJP member, so FIPJP's own federations page does not list it as a seventh confederation member. The Oceania Championship has been held every two years since 2010 and doubles as the region's qualifying event for the FIPJP World Championships.

A 2026 Revival in Port Vila

After more than a decade without an official competition, an interim committee formed in 2026 to revive organized pétanque in Vanuatu, holding a tournament on 14 May 2026 at the Port Vila Seafront (registrations 8-9am, followed by matches). Committee member Nemani Gislapno, who began playing at age seven and has represented Vanuatu seven times at regional and international competitions, told the Vanuatu Daily Post that the sport's appeal lies in being playable by people of all ages without needing a large playing area, and that many residents in Port Vila's suburbs and around the seafront had kept playing recreationally even through the competitive lull. Assistant Treasurer Timothy Georges added that the sport offers a stress-free way for players to socialize. Players registered for a VT500 entry fee, with proceeds going toward rebuilding the national federation and funding future competitions, and local business Island Time supported the event - a first step the organizers hope will lead to regular tournaments and a stronger pipeline toward regional and FIPJP-level play.

The same Daily Post report states that Vanuatu "made history in 2014" by securing participation at the Petanque World Championship and finishing ranked 18th among the world's top 20 nations. This claim could not be independently corroborated against FIPJP results archives or Wikipedia's own championship-history tables, and it sits in tension with Wikipedia's note that the 2014 men's triples World Championship, scheduled for Papeete, Tahiti, was cancelled outright over concerns linked to the West African Ebola epidemic that year - which would mean no edition was held in 2014 for Vanuatu to have placed in. It is included here for completeness, with that conflict flagged, rather than presented as settled fact; a future cycle with access to FIPJP's own historical results archive could resolve it definitively.

National Competition Calendar

Vanuatu does not yet have a standing annual fixture list; the confirmed dated 2026 event is the interim committee's revival tournament held 14 May 2026 at the Port Vila Seafront, described above. No further international fixtures for Vanuatu could be confirmed.

Where to Play

Port Vila, on Efate, is the hub of organized activity, centered on the seafront tournaments the revival committee is working to establish. Player and club directories also show recreational pétanque activity spread across the wider archipelago, including on Espiritu Santo (Luganville, Port-Olry), Malekula (Lakatoro, Norsup), Tanna (Isangel), Ambae (Saratamata), and Vanua Lava (Sola), reflecting how widely the game has taken root beyond the capital even without a formal club network.