Boost for football

There’s a determined group of young professionals out to make a push for Philippine football and it appears they’re on track to give the world’s most popular sport a shot in the arm.

The consensus is Philippine football is dying because of lack of vision and direction from the Philippine Football Federation, the POC-accredited NSA governing the sport. While football is widely played at the school level, crack players aren’t enticed to continue playing beyond graduation because there isn’t a strong “premier” league to participate in.

Now comes the so-called Football Alliance which is affiliated with the United Football Cup Association (UFCA), a regular member of the NCR Football Association that is the PFF’s conscience bloc. The UFCA is behind the United Football League (UFL) which has nine teams and is on its eighth season. The Alliance hopes to take the UFL to the next level by organizing a full season’s schedule starting with The Cup from October to December, moving to The League from January to May and ending with The Invitationals in June.

The Alliance will name its league La Copa Filipina with four cornerstones – a corporate series for commercial support, a youth summer camp, a serious presence in media and a dedicated promotion of merchandise.

The Alliance is led by what I call the Magnificent 7 – a team of young executives who share a passion for football. The group is made up of LBC CEO Santi Araneta, 2GO SVP and COO Mike Camahort, Magma Inflatables president and CEO Antonio Longa, Mutual Fund Management Corp. president Philip Hagedorn, ATR Kim Eng chairman and president Lorenzo Roxas, Orient Freight president and CEO Monchu Garcia and LBC marketing director Javy Mantecon.

Together, the Magnificent 7 is looking to restore football’s once lofty standing as a significant sport in the country.

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Mantecon said football has enjoyed a rich tradition in the Philippines dating back to the early 1900s when Paulino Alcantara became the first Asian to play for a European Club A squad.

Alcantara, born in Iloilo in 1896, still holds the record for scoring the most goals for Barcelona with 357 in as many matches. In 1913, the Philippines was crowned the Far Eastern Games football champion and four years later, asserted its mastery in the region by walloping Japan, 15-2. In 1958, the Philippines continued to dominate Japan and won, 1-0, in a battle for superiority. The last milestone in Philippine football history was when the national team reached the semifinals at the 1991 Southeast Asian Games. Since then, the sport has been on a disappointing downturn.

Mantecon said the Alliance is ready to take the challenge of managing the comeback of Philippine football in a professional and organized manner. Their goal is to generate solid support from stakeholders all over the country and parlay their success as young professionals into a winning formula for Philippine football.

“We want to regenerate interest among the youth, executives and serious football enthusiasts,” said Mantecon. “With the help of media, we intend to promote Philippine football in a big way. We’re determined to redefine football in the Philippines.”

The Alliance’s immediate priority is to get the season off the ground. Eventually, a viable business plan will be formulated with the aim of establishing long-term sustainability for the Alliance. The ultimate objective is for the Philippines to qualify as a contender in the Asian Football Confederation at all levels.

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Mantecon said the program is doable. For the first tournament, 16 clubs will be tapped to play 38 matches. The teams are Manila Nomads, Union Football Club, Loyola Football Club, Air Force, Navy, Army, Alabang Grins Football Club, Laos Football Club, MPL Football Club, Kaya Football Club, Mama Africa Football Club, Sunken Garden Football Club, Baguio Football Club, Manila All-Japan Football Club, Lions Football Club and Inter-Manila Football Club.

The roster of members makes for a multi-national character and over 400 players will be enlisted. Venues will be the Rizal Memorial, Ateneo football field, Nomads and the Philippine Army field in Taguig.

In the second tournament or conference, the same 16 clubs will be split into Division I and Division II. The seedings will be determined in The Cup. The schedule will be for 112 matches played on weekends. At the end of the competitions, the top Division II club will be elevated to Division I and the lowest-placed Division I team will be downgraded to Division II.

The Invitationals will be a four-club meet. Participating are The Cup champion, The League titlist, a foreign guest entry and the top local club aside from the Cup and League winners.

In all, the Alliance is programming to play 153 matches leading up to the World Cup in South Africa next year.

It’s an ambitious plan but if the Magnificent 7 lives up to its credentials, there’s no more capable group to get the job done. If Philippine football is to be revived in a big way, the Magnificent 7 is the team to do it. The Alliance couldn’t be in better hands – and feet.