Reclaiming A Forgotten Legacy

This appears in the December 9 issue of Business Mirror.









It is most strange that it took the President of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to inform the assembled group of local football cognoscenti and the media why the world’s game isn’t flourishing in the Philippines. Joseph S. Blatter might be the most powerful man in the planet’s greatest sport, yet for all the changes he has introduced into the game, for all the breaking down of borders of football, the man draws the line at being a prophet and a miracle worker.

FIFA’s president was in Manila to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the game’s roots in the country. “Build your national team, build your fields and your youth program, and have lots of faith. Only then can your country can reap the benefits of the beautiful game,” he replied succinctly when asked if guest appearances world famous clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid would spur local interest. “Help yourselves first and Heaven will help you.”

December 7 may be a date of infamy in world history, but it is also a significant moment in the Philippines’ place in the footballing world. It was on that day in 1907 that the Philippine Football Federation was formed. The country in fact has the second oldest football governing body (the honor of organizing the first association belongs to Singapore) in Asia and is a founding member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the continental governing body that was established in 1954. “I don’t know whether Filipinos are aware of your history in the sport,” wondered Blatter who time and again stressed the Philippines’ contributions to football including FC Barcelona’s greatest goalscorer Paulino Alcantara, Filipino-Spanish mestizo who was born to a Spanish father and a Filipina in the province of Iloilo. “Your country has also made great strides by moving up in the world rankings.”

During the press conference held at the Negros function room of the Hotel Sofitel in Manila, Blatter was flanked by newly elected PFF President Jose Mari Martinez and AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam. All three pledged consultation and support for the growth of football in the country where basketball reigns supreme. Blatter explained that FIFA allocates $1 million every four years to every nation’s football association. The stipulation, noted Blatter was the 10% allocated to the development of women’s football would increase to 20%. “The women and the youth are the future growth of the game,” added the Swiss who is in his third term at the helm of FIFA.

“We will have an inventory of where we are now. Then we can set objectives in refereeing, administration, communication, marketing, and the health of players. We need clear and realistic objectives. If you say that the Philippines will qualify for the World Cup in 2010 then I would say that’s not realistic. Developing football is not enough. You have to bring back the good old days when the sport was big. And it can be big once more.”

Unknown to most Filipinos, there was a thriving football scene back in the post-World War II years until the 1970’s when the focus shifted solely to basketball. A former national player, Iñaki Alvarez works in the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. “It is a good sport,” smiled Blatter who was once Secretary General of the Nationalliga, the professional ice hockey league of his native Switzerland and is currently a member of the International Olympic Committee. “But football being the world’s most popular sport has a social responsibility. And we at FIFA we like to say are, “For the game and for the world.”

One of Blatter’s key projects has been Football for Hope that promotes and supports sustainable social and humanitarian development programs in the areas of peace-building, children’s rights and education, healthcare, anti-discrimination, social integration, and the environment. In his second and final day in Manila, Blatter and his FIFA and AFC contingent went to Don Bosco Alabang to visit a youth training center. “Who knows? The next Asian superstar could be among them,” he said referring to the children. “That would be good, yeah? That the next Asian star is a Filipino. After all, it’s your legacy.”

Some of Sepp Blatter’s innovations to the game:
He supplanted “the Golden Goal” (which dictates that a match ends immediately if one side score immediately in extra time) with “the Silver Goal” rule that states that if a match ends in a draw at the end of regulation time, a 15-minute extra period will be played. If one team moves ahead during that period that game will be over. Otherwise another 15-minute period is played. If the two teams are still level afterwards then a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the outcome.

Prior to 2002, the winner of the previous World Cup was automatically seeded into the next finals. To ensure that there is no drop off in competition and no place for complacency, Blatter decreed that every team will once more have to fight for a place in the world’s biggest and most-watched sporting spectacle.