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.