On Des Bulpin, the PFF, and those tickets to Panaad

This appears in the Friday January 14, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.


On Des Bulpin, the PFF, and those tickets to Panaad

by rick olivares

Desmond Bulpin, the former head coach of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team, said that he still keeps tabs with the team that he handled for under a year before Simon McMenemy took over for the Suzuki Cup. “Of course I do follow the developments in the Philippines and I wish them well.  I am very pleased the team is achieving great results,” said the Scotsman in an email exchange with BUSINESS MIRROR. “Well done to the players and well done to the coach! I have a lot of respect for the players. They are a fantastic bunch and were such a pleasure to work with! I hope I have managed to deliver what can be called a foundation for the existing team.”

Bulpin allegedly left after a row with PFF officials from the previous administration but he offered no rancor in his explanation to leave. “I have worked in professional football for more than 25 years now, and football is a funny business. It is very volatile and it has always been strongly affected by people and developments off the pitch, in Europe as much as in the Far East. I am used to this, this is part of the business and I know that no job is forever. What led to my departure was simply a highly attractive job offer and the unique chance to work with the current Indian National Team Manager, Bob Houghton - in my opinion the best coach in the world, who has brought India back into the Asian Cup after nearly 30 years of absence. It wasn't easy for me to leave the Philippines, I am a very ambitious person and love a challenge.”

In other developments, new PFF President Mariano V. Araneta declared the participation at the recent AFC Congress to be a success. “We were able to secure a meeting with AFC President Mohammed Bin-Hammam who pledged his support to the Philippines,” said Araneta. “The football federations of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan pledged to pool $100,000 every year to help put up a national tournament. The federation of Japan will provide $20,000 to help with our grassroots program. Now we can put a lot of our programs in place.”

In addition to marshalling the resources of the PFF, Araneta said that every effort is being made to ensure the success of the February 9 AFC Challenge Cup match with Mongolia in Panaad, Bacolod. “We also have a very important board meeting this coming January 29 where we will discuss all the concerns of football in this country. There’s also the matter of the tickets where we can tell the public that the General Admission seats will be for free (10,000 seats). On the other hand, we are finalizing prices for other sections. I have also asked Charlie Cojuangco (of the Negros Football Association) to help out with the Under-19 national tournament where we hope to send a team in the AFF U-19 Tournament in Myanmar this September.

Aside from the U-19 tournament, an Under-23 national tournament will be held this summer in hopes of finding talent to help form the team that will compete in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games that will be held in Indonesia later this year.