BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

PFF to form national football league in three years


This appears in the Wednesday, July 10, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.

PFF to form national football league in three years
by rick olivares

In three years’ time, the Philippines will kick off its very own version of England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, and Germany’s Bundesliga among others. This national football league will be created with the help of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation; the governing bodies of world and regional football respectively.

During a recent workshop conducted by FIFA, the directive was for the Philippines to have its own national league. The PFF, during the term of former president Johnny Romualdez, conducted several national men’s football championships in the past involving teams from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and the National Capital Region but they were organized on and off due to the lack of funding. The last men’s tournament was in 2007 at Panaad Stadium Bacolod that featured a clash between Negros Occidental and Philippine Air Force. The Airmen, led by Ian Araneta and Chieffy Caligdong won the title.

With the resurgence of football in the Philippines, both FIFA and AFC will be heavily involved in the organization and possibly initial funding of the league, ensuring a more permanent set up for the league.

Ten to 12 clubs will form this league along with a second division. FIFA also directed that all football clubs become direct members of the Philippine Football Federation.

A PFF source intimated that the timetable for the league to begin operations is set for three years. The creation of the hitherto unnamed national league will see a merger between the current clubs of the National Capital Region-based United Football League teams with the PFF. “It only makes sense to do this,” said the federation source.

Given the Tacloban roots of Global, they will in all likelihood represent the Leyte Football Federation. Current UFL double champions, Stallion, will represent Iloilo given its roots from Barotac Nuevo.

Our source likewise bared that the competition format will be home and away in nature, carry a point system, and involve promotion and relegation of clubs.

Given the cost implications on the road travel and logistics that proved to be a problem for the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association that once challenged the Philippine Basketball Association for supremacy in the late 1990s, the PFF will study ways and means to be more cost effective. “The MBA lasted for four years before it ceased operations,” said the source. “But given the budget fares nowadays, it is now feasible although still expensive. Football teams are larger in number than basketball teams. So we will have to study all the costs. That is why we hope to get this right before we start in three years.”

The PFF is also looking at ways of assisting in the refurbishing existing football pitches for use in the national league. Currently, there are several in use. Aside from the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, there’s the Emperador Stadium (McKinley Hill Taguig and home of the UFL), the University of Makati, and the Marikina Sports Complex in the National Capital Region.

Outside Metro Manila, there is the San Luis Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz, Laguna; the Tarlac Recreational Park in Tarlac City; the Naga Sports Complex in Naga City, Bicol; Panaad Stadium in Bacolod; the Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City; the Abellana Sports Complex in Cebu; the Leyte Sports Development Center in Tacloban; the Governor Mariano Perdices Memorial Coliseum in Dumaguete City; the Mariano Pelaez Sports Center in Mindoro; the South Cotobato Sports Complex in Mindanao; and the Davao del Norte Sports and Cultural Center in Davao.

The first steps towards the creation of the national league begin this year when the next UFL season kicks off.

Notes: The UFL will begin implementing the “five-foreigner rule” beginning this October. That means that teams can only field five foreigners on the pitch at any given time. The exception only for this coming season is Nomads, the Merville-based club of foreign expatriates who happen have organized the oldest football club. However, two years from now, all clubs must comply with the five-foreigner rule. 

14 comments:

  1. Aside from travel costs, organizers must also sort out TV coverage. MBA had great TV coverage then..

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  2. stick it with the MLS format, too expensive if all around the archipelago. Want to see some MLS Cup play-offs around here.

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  3. para saken ok lang format ng UFL ngayon realistic lang ako! yung gagastusin nila sa logistics ipagbili nalang nila ng quality players lol palitan lang namen ng UFL saka stadiums :)

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  4. a league for luzon , a league for ncr ,a league for visayas and a league for mindanao...top 3 teams will be in the next round..

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    1. Yeah I like this format as it will save money. Regions will take turns in hosting the semi finals. 2-legged finals will be hosted by the homes of the finalists.

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    2. for cup maybe . pero as league mukha hindi . lets be honest . mas okey yung funds ng manila based teams . mas okey ang funds ang promotions doon .

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  5. super excited. sana maging successful.
    Manila derby between
    Manila United vs Manila city
    There can only be one big club in town
    XD

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  6. Cebu Queen City United did it before... travel and play...

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  7. There's gonna prom/rel from the get-go? That's idiotic! The like's of the K-League and J-League didn't start out that way and rightly so! Also, to have "proper" teams and to weed out the weekend warrior type clubs, there needs to be a club licensing system. And if the PFF was really moving forward and if they really have the cojones, the ufl wouldn't be the basis for this league!

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  8. They should take the German Bundesliga as a role model. You have a German coach, he should know what to do. Otherwise Palami has to hire me...

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  9. How about A top tier league in Manila just like PBA (with occasional games in the province or atleast more games in the province to promote football) two top top division leagues .( like the UFL) then the third division (parang regional league ) then local league . parang football pyramid din . hindi dalawang division lang .

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  10. they can name it Ang Liga Pilipinas!

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  11. To be successful the PFF has to fix the problems related to their Provincial FA's..many of these are run by selfish people who only use the FA for their own use and connection to the PFF. Many have cried about this to the PFF and their answer is always " they can't do anything about it " PFF is the top organization and yet they don't want the resposibility to organize their sub-organization. What kind of leadership is that???? The PFF will never get it done right unless the Owners who makes the the decision for the PFF are gone.

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  12. Thank You! My dreams are coming true. There are a lot of Venues in the NCR like the Nomads S.C., ULTRA or PhilSports Stadum, De La-Salle Zobel Field, FEU Quezon Field, Ateneo's Erenchun & Ocampo Field, UP Diliman Track Oval and more...

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