PFF lines up 3 national tourneys

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) will hold three national tournaments aimed at sustaining the surge in the sport’s popularity and at the same time discover and develop future football stars.

PFF president Mariano Araneta said the federation has already sent communications to all provincial associations for the staging of Under-23 and Under-19 tournaments and the revival of the PFF-Smart National Clubs Championship this summer.

The U-23 and U-19 will have their finals in May while the clubs tilt will be contested in June following the cluster and regional qualifying rounds in April.

Araneta said the tournaments hope to strengthen the PFF’s grassroots development program and the national teams, including the youth squads it intends to field in the AFF U-23 Championship in July in Indonesia and the AFF U-19 tilt in September in Myanmar. The team competing in the Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta in November will also be composed of U-23 stalwarts.

“We’re also preparing for the SEA Games as well as the AFF U-23 and AFF U-19 tournaments this year so these (national) tournaments are important; they will be the basis for our tryouts,” Araneta said.

The Club championship, the PFF said, will “serve to revive the national local club competition in our country and help in talent identification for various national football teams.”

The PFF is now able to hold such tournaments after sponsors started coming in following the phenomenal rise of the Azkals. Telecom giant Smart has infused P80-million for 10 years for the national clubs meet while Middle East countries Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan have pledged $100,000 a year for the next five years to subsidize the PFF’s national competitions and development programs.