Recently there was an article written questioning the timing of our inclusion on the PFF’s Congress 2019 Agenda for membership approval. On behalf of Stallion Laguna FC, I would like to put on record what are the facts surrounding this issue.
The PFF Statutes Article 10 which addresses “Admission” of members. It states verbatim: “The members of the PFF are: A. Clubs of the first division and second division of the National League to be established by PFF. B. Provincial football Associations”.
I speak on behalf of Stallion Laguna FC when I say that we have made our intention known since 2017, that we would like to be recognized and approved as a regular member of the PFF, as per Article 10 of the PFF Statutes. I was elated when we were informed that our membership request will be part of the PFF Congress Agenda in 2019.
In the article written by Jack Biantan, he mentioned that the potential approval of our membership was politically motivated due to the upcoming PFF Presidential elections. This is a half-baked article that is trying to demean the campaign of Nonong Araneta for another term as PFF President.
Let me be straight and state the obvious in letting everybody know why Stallion Laguna FC supports the incumbent PFF president.
Stallion Laguna FC was originally formed and founded in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. I should stop here since the reason is already obvious but allow me to continue.On the technical side, MVA was a former men’s national team member. He is currently a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, as well as a Vice President of AFC, and a member of the AFF Committee as well. He is a football person and a successful businessman. In his 9 years of leadership, he has achieved the following.
- Participated in at least 8 youth, women’s, men’s competitions on a yearly basis.
- Created a grassroots program that won the AFC Grassroots award twice.
- Championed the participation of UFL and PFL team in the AFC Cup and Champions League qualifiers.
- Launched the PFL
- Increased the number of licensed coaches in the Philippines.
- Started national youth league competitions ( U15 ongoing)
- Constructed the National training center in Carmona
- And others
I have no problem with Jack writing and promoting his candidate. My problem with his 2 recent articles is the wrong and inaccurate message he is sending. Jack should do some research before trying to present things as facts. His 1st article talks about his candidate supporting the PFL? How? His candidate never spoke with us. If history serves me right, his candidate is actually against the existence of Ceres Negros FC. Anybody can say they want to support the PFL, but a statement like that warrants specifics on how that support will materialize. Recent local history between NOFA and Ceres Negros FC showed otherwise.
His candidate should have a record of supporting their own local professional team (Ceres Negros FC) in NOFA before he can claim that he will support the PFL if he becomes the PFF President. Jack’s article can be misconstrued that his candidate not aware of the PFL being independent of the PFF. If his candidate is not familiar with the structure of the PFF and PFL, then the claim to support the PFL is not to be believed? A shotgun approach does not work in presenting programs. There has to be a timeline and a logical progression on how his candidate can make his claims happen. It cannot be thrown out there thinking that once it is said then it will manifest itself. There has to be a structured framework for any program. Don’t forget that a certain person already tried to declare his intention to help run and manage the PFL, only to disappear in the mist.
Then a 2nd article is released, claiming that the PFL clubs inclusion as regular members of the PFF is politically motivated? Jack’s 1st and 2nd articles directly conflict with each other. Albeit the right of a professional club to apply for PFF membership, what Jack did was contradict his candidates claim of support for the PFL, and show that the incumbent PFF President it the one who truly supported the PFL club by having done 2 major things. First, MVA got Qatar Airlines as a major sponsor for the PFL. Second, he is facilitating the membership application of the PFL teams.
I’ve known Jack for years. I’ve always recognized his contributions by reading and reposting his articles. I’ve elected not to comment on recent postings even if I have opposing views. Unfortunately, I was offended by his recent article claiming the inclusion of PFL clubs in the PFF membership was nothing but a political move. Maybe his candidate should have suggested our inclusion as a proof of his support for the PFL, instead of questioning it?
Jack has all the rights to support a candidate of his choosing and personal preference. We all do. He should continue to focus on the positive things his candidate plans on doing, and not try to derail the programs of our candidate. He should also present facts as facts and not twist his opinion to look factual. Research really helps. The lack of research and understanding of the subject matter he wrote about backfired on him big time.
His article about the support Ricky Yanson will show the PFL was very promising. Even our fans reacted positively. Now I feel that if Nonong Araneta is not the PFF President, then we will never become regular members of the PFF.
Here are some requirements a professional club needs to comply with before being given a PFF Club license.
- We need to employ professional players, coaches and staff.
- We must have a grassroots and youth program
- We must have a women’s team
- We need to employ licensed coaches
- We need to participate in PFF sanctioned competitions and AFC competitions
- Promote football
- The club must be registered in the SEC
Basically we have been performing the same functions as a Regional Football Association (RFA) since 2017. It took us 2 years to comply with all of the requirements. Playing on a PFF approved venue being one of them. To make it look like our application for membership is only a political move, warrants a reply, “it’s about time”, and not “why now?”.
There was nothing that prevented Jack’s candidate recommending our inclusion on the PFF Agenda. Why did he not propose it as a sign of support for the PFL teams? Dahil hindi ninyo idea eh masama na agad? On the other hand MVA continues to announce new projects for the development of Philippine Football. He timed it right so to speak. What is wrong with that? Isn’t that part of his campaign for the up and coming elections? Media will play an important role during the campaign period. It is the responsibility of a media writer to verify facts before sharing his own opinion on any matter. He cannot just throw it out there, then bahala na si BATMAN.
We need to get past the politics of football and focus on the development of the sport. All stakeholders have a role to play, regardless of who your candidate may be. I hope that after the PFF elections, we can set aside our differences and focus on the tasks on hand, the development of the sport we all love.
