| RP football on right direction |
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| Jack Biantan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 20 April 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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LONDON - I MAY sound like the PR man of the current Philippine Football Federation (PFF) administration but I should insist that with president Mari Martinez at helm, football in our beloved country is on the right direction. During the campaign period of the PFF election last year, Martinez promised to resign if within six months he could not make the beautiful game popular in RP. But of course no one believed that promise. It was just a promise and promises are always meant to be broken. He is five months in his reign and do you think the football community would like him to resign? It will take proper management and decades to make football popular in RP. It is not only the job of the PFF to make this dream a reality. It is the job of all of us football loving citizens. If we believed the April fools day joke and if we are from Mars then Martinez should not be the PFF president by now. But in reality, Martinez is working very hard in his own capacity to push this sport forward into the minds of every Filipino. According to him he has three programs for Philippine football, the short term, the medium term and the long term programs. It will take two columns to write about these programs so I will just take on the first and a little bit of the second term. The short term program, which Martinez is now focusing on, is the development right now of the RP national men’s team. In the past, the RP national men’s team have been the whipping boys of South East Asian football. But since former coach Caslib became the national coach few years back, the Azkals have came out of the dull drum and won few important victories against our neighbours. This year, Caslib has been replaced by the legendary Negros striker Norman Fegidero and Martinez has vowed to continue Caslib’s program for the Azkals. What was Caslib’s legacy then? There was only one, and a very important one. The recruitment of Filipino-Foreign players to play for the national team. Martinez’ short term program for the nationals is anchored in this policy. A policy which is expensive but successful. A policy which has made the Azkals a real threat to our neighbours. Martinez said that as of the moment the PFF will continue to recruit Filipino-Foreign players until we can produce our own local players who are of international calibre. He is right in this. The Filipino-Foreign players whom the PFF has recruited are active in their own leagues in their specific countries where they are based through out the year. Local players are mostly active only on few tournaments they participate in a year. The Fil-For players also attract the long sleeping Filipino football fans. Take for example during the South East Asian Games played in Bacolod few years back. Thousands of ‘Azkalnatics’ went to the games to cheer for the Azkals and see the Fil-Fors. Since the Azkals have attracted a large following, sponsors have also started to flow in. The Japanese company Mizuno was the first to come forward pouring in millions of pesos to the national team. In the coming Asian Challenge Cup next month in Iloilo, Fil-Brits James Hall, James and Phil Younghusband, Chris Greatwich, and Neil Etheridge have already confirmed their participation. In future tournaments, Martinez announced that more Fil-Foreigners are coming to beef up the national team. He said that he is in contact with six Fil-German players, 10 Fil-British and four Fil-Americans. Most of the Fil-Foreign players who are lined up to play for the nationals are young. They still have very long football careers ahead of them. I salute all of them for taking the plunge in helping Philippine football. CRITICS This policy is expected to get criticisms from the other side. Many will ask, what about our local players? Yes, Martinez has an answer to that question. The answers are found in the medium term program of the PFF. According to Martinez, their medium range program included the establishment a national tournament first then of a semi-pro league later to make local players active. He said that he accepts that it is the PFF’s fault why there are no long tournaments at any levels. However, there are plans now to organize the National championships in August and even a semi-pro league which might kick off late this year or early next year. If all plans will push through then local players will have venues to show their talents and be active all through out the year. By then we will have no reason to get Fil-Foreign players unless they are really extremely talented. PFF VS NOFA TIFF I am really exasperated by the current war between the PFF president Mari Martinez and Negros Occidental Football Association (Nofa) president Charlie Cojuangco. If only the two gentlemen could sit down and settle their differences then everybody would be happy. Both are pissed off with each other and can’t stand one another. I have always been in touch with the Martinez camp because I have worked with him in the past. I have tried to get in touch with Charlie once during the election last year but he was too busy to talk to me. I am a man who is easy to talk to. I want to get Charlie’s side also of this tussle. Can someone from Charlie’s camp contact me. My e-mail address is jackbiantan@yahoo.com. Please, gentlemen for the sake of the beautiful game and our country make peace not war. BEND IT SWEEPSTAKES Our winner for the month of March, Dominique, has gone missing. Please if you are still on planet Earth e-mail me. GOD BLESS Email the author
jo
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| did pff consider training gifted local players to be exported to the european leagues?just imagine if these filipinos excelled in europe and when they return here they will be a big help to our country, the same way japan, south korea and some other asian countries did. that's the reason why we are behind because we keep on playing football the filipino style not the international style. |
Michael
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| I am glad to hear from others that the RP teams is heading in the right direction. Being a Filipino American living in Spain, I have a lot of pride in being Filipino and cheering for Pacquiao and other Filipino teams, but being a huge futbol (soccer) fan, I long for the day when the Philippines will rise in FIFA ranking. |
Cryst
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| Yeah after years if waking up early in the morning to support MAN UTD in their quest for the champions league, the dream has finally come! United need only to win their last three games to keep the premiership and win the 3rd European cup. Moscow, May 21 !! Believe ! www.sports-couch.blogspot.com |
Dominique
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| Football is called a hundred names across the world ? but there is one thing that holds common to all terms. GOAL. As I read the article, it dawned on me that yes, football is going somewhere here in the country. I remember writing something like ?Only God knows where Philippine football is heading towards? in my past comments. And to answer this, ?it is heading to an unconceived goal by now but with a better sense of direction?. Quoting David Beckham when asked about how he wanted to raise soccer in America, ?I know I wouldn?t be able to raise it to a level where basketball (NBA) or baseball is right now because it your tradition and I would not want to change that but we can still raise soccer to a higher level?. This also holds true to the Philippines. Basketball is a religion here ? and its popularity is enough to make someone a senator. While every boy in Europe dreams to be a football superstar, every father in the Philippines wants to see his son play in the PBA. But we can also raise the level of football in RP. To make football popular in RP is not a job that is done overnight and it needs not just a good PFF president but a lot more. It needs the 5 Ms. MANPOWER, MONEY, MARKET, MACHINERIES AND MOMENT. Manpower refers to the PFF Officials, the government and football players who are like Beckham (both skillful and with the X-factor for the fans and supporters). Money obviously is something we badly need. It can be taken from the ample government support and even the private sectors. Market in general is the public who will be the consumers of the sport. Machineries refer to the facilities, arenas and equipment that will help our players improve their craft. Moments, I would like to equate to the time and minutes needed to make this all come true. I also would like to add another M which is the MEDIA ? to mobilize the popularity of football we need to tap the most powerful tool ? television ? coverage which will be in networks that are capable of projecting the games in every household. I think the short term program is rational. What we need now is immediate solution to make RP survive the football tournaments ? that is a strong team composed of versatile players that are ready to bleed for football. Let us just forget the expenses; what is important is that little by little differences happen. The medium range plans are also good. Look at our neighboring countries, even if they are poorer than us, they have a national tournament or league. We need this as well so that this will be an avenue for the football players to be competitive and hone their skills. The absence of a national tournament I guess is also the reason why young boys don?t have interest in the sport because they will not have a future professional career in the country. As for the PFF vs NOFA war, hands down. Let it not be just somebody?s laurel to tell that he/she made football big in the country. It is our entire job. Think Philippines. Think football. |
Reddevil
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| Yeah more shows dedicated to pinoy football. Like a tv version of pinoy soccer. Thing is with no league to watch it wont last. There has to be a football league that will go for at least a few months so the show can focus on it. However, with so much politics going around, I am not sure its a good idea if the PFF leads it. These initiatives are more suited for the private sector. Cryst, if Man Utd dont come away with at least one trophy in the next month or so, it will be a disastrous season for them. They are in such a good position up to last week. I hope the veterans on the team take the lead and steady the nerves. |
cryst
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| After watching Manchester United lost to Chelsea for a late penalty I was down in shock. Suddenly there was this new NIKE add showing Cristiano Ronaldo practicing his free kicks, then Kobe Bryant shooting, then Maria Sharapova, then Roger Federer, then Liu Xiang and then Manny Pacquiao. Wow ! Manny has reached this stage. But It left me wondering why Nike Athlete Tiger Woods was in the add? Anyways back to United they still lead the premiership by a superior goal difference, will the blink? The champions league clash this week with Barca will decide the season. Will they win the premiership and the champions league? or will United fans sulk with no silver war this season? The next few weeks will be crucial. www.sports-couch.blogspot.com |
Indiobravo
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| A little bit of media help will do a lot of good as well.Like showing big NCAA/UAAP football games in TV,even if it's highlight's only.Or a dedicated football show done by PFF.They could ask it to be shown in NBN so they can have discounts |
Reddevil
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| Cryst, I know exactly what you mean. I lived in KL for 5 years and thats where I started playing the game. Instead of basketball courts, there are football fields..almost paradise. Unfortunately, I think its gonna take a lot more for espnstar to change their lousy programming for the Philippines. They are just clueless (or really just dont care) about what people here like. They do show some billiards, but mainly they show motorsports, rugby, extreme sports, tennis, baseball (mostly yankee games) and golf. None of these are particularly pleasing to most Filipino sports fans. In fact I think there would be more pinoys interested in football than those sports I mentioned. they even only show basketball once in a while so you can imagine how someone is not doing their jobs at ESPNSTAR in trying to understand Filipino sports habits. With regards to our Fil foreigners, unfortunately they do not have the same impact as our fil am basketball players. On hindsight, i dont think the Filam basketball players have made the game more popular here nor have they strengthened our position internationally. In the last FIBA Olympic qualifyers we didnt even reach the quarterfinal round despite a team composed of at at least 70% Fil foreigners. Further, the PBA has lost a lot of its excitement and popularity ever since they opened the doors to Filams. With the PFF going after Fil Brits and what have you, its a good start. It will make us more competitive, yes. But without a defnitive football program locally for Filipino players, it will not win us matches. The filbrits are a good idea all around, However, its not the only thing the PFF should do to make football more popular here. |
jackbiantan
said:
| The message below is for Dominique. Sorry. |
jackbiantan
said:
| Was your trip from Mars okey? Where have you been? Please you won our Bend It sweepstakes for the month of March. I need you to email me at jackbiantan@yahoo.com your vital stats so that I can seek your correct size. Say something also about yourself. Do not forget to send me your mailing adress so that I cab=n send your jersey ASAP. God Bless |
Dominique
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| duh! guys! like im here! |
Cryst
said:
| It's 3pm here in Kuala Lumpur and I'm still sleepy after waking up 2:30 am to watch Barca drew with MU on ESPN. I am really surprised that ESPN and StarSports are not showing all the EPL games in Manila. Considering the fact that ESPNSTAR is based in Singapore and they show all the games during the weekend here in Malaysia. My analogy is, ESPN Philippines have different programing than most ASEAN football crazy countries? Now that's a big effect on the popularity of football back in Manila. Too bad the decider between the Blues and the Devils will not be shown this weekend. Maybe some one knows Drinie Aguilar, a Filipina who works for ESPNSTAR in Singapore. She presents most motor sports including F1 and Engine block and host a gaming critic show. Maybe she can help in standardizing the weekend with the rest of ASEAN. I read one time that when she shifted to Singapore last January 2007, she was shocked how popular football is around the region. When you turn the sports page around here its 90 % football,its all stories they buy from the SUN, INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH etc. Most kids in ASEAN (except RP) don't know who Parker or Nash is.I think in RP a lot of kids know a 50 yard line is than an off side. One more thing to make football or sports in general popular we must change the constitution. Education and Sports should be two different Departments. Sports must have its own Secretary.I don't need to explain this PERIOD. I think we should support the current PFF president and give him time. I also suggest that the PFF website needs to be offcial, up to date and informative. Right now I do not know which website is the real one. For real Philippine football news, I only rely to pinoysoccer.com Azkal ang dugo, www.sports-couch.blogspot.com " I am a football fan who does not play the game,only from my couch" |
locotes
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| Asking foreign based players would really help our football standard here. They will help us win games. Our current Basketball national team would not be as successful as it is if not for fil-ams. As to date China is the only team we cannot beat in Asia(basketball) if we take away the fil-ams in the roster I doubt we can beat teams like Jordan,Lebanon,Japan or Korea. So if we want to enjoy the same success as our Bball team, asking foreign based players is the right move. Anyways they are also filipinos, they got the same rights as everybody to represent the country. We should not see it as depriving our local based footballers. |
Reddevil
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| Judging from the comments, we have now shifted to the age old problem of how to get football popular in the Philippines. We have discussed how media shies away from giving football much coverage. So unless there is a mass shift on how media views football here, there wont be much change. Something has to happen for media to take notice and of course the sponsors will follow. By the way, I disagree that the coverage here is better than basketball. That situation is temporary with Solar pulling out of Skycable. People are all still itching to watch NBA games where it is available. The footballl games that they do show here thru espnstar is below average as they never show the big games. The premiership title decider this weekend between man utd vs chelsea is a prime example. It wont be shown and wont even be aired as a rerun. They didnt show that epic game between Arsenal and Man Utd last week either. The premiership is the biggest now, its like the NBA in basketball terms, and with three games to go, it is the same as the playoffs. How many fans did Solar create when they started showing the NBA games and playoffs in the past two years. To show world class players and teams will go a long way in showing people how beautiful the game is and how dramatic it can be. Its the same for any sport. On the other other hand, the use of fil foreigners is a good start since they can attract attention and on a technical level improve the standard of play. But what we need is success on the pitch and that takes a lot of time. The government also has to take a role in this, even up to the barangay level. The situation is so different in the football hotbeds in the country and that has to be copied in Metro Manila. We need to get better players and this can be done systematically if we ensure more competitive games and coaches. Schools have to encourage more students to play. Its a combination of these efforts that will make a difference and hopefully gather momentum. There was some good momentum going after the World Cup but again because of Solar's coverage directed to paying customers, it couldnt reach the masses. Everything has to come in place and not just one stage at a time. |
jackbiantan
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| Will, I wish I can see your foto in your comment to recognize you. I do not wish to be someone's mouthpiece. Just doing a job that no one wants to do. God Bless |
wil
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| if you really come to think of it, the fan base of football in the philippines is already very huge and even cuts accross a huge sector. in what sports event can you see girls, boys and parents from the rich and mighty to the simple pinoys altogether? in football events! the real problem really is how to channel this mass into a loud voice enough to bring the sponsors and the general public to finally look at the sport (former relatively unknown sports like billiards and martial arts are successful examples). Aside from getting marquee fil-for players (who make good print and TV copies), we also need to up the level of media coverage in the sport. there aren't that many reporters/journalists who can really dissect the sport to make it understandable to a non-fan, much more the horrendous TV coverage. we need to communicate the beauty of this game same as basketball journalists are successful in putting out the battle in hardcourts. we need a story more than the scroeline. that brings in the attention. it's all about projection and pereception really. a good PR guy for PFF will definitely give a boost to all these big programs. hi jack. remember me? |
locotes
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| I will be one of the thousand that will support the "upcoming domestic league". I think PFF's move on fielding foreign based players is the right thing to do to upgrade our standard in international football scene. I do not see it as depriving our local based players of a spot, coz if our local based players are skillful enough to compete for a spot they can always land a spot, take for example chippy, Ali etc. If Ali and the others can gain a spot from the national team, Im sure other can do to. Being locally trained and based doesnt automatically gives you the rights to represent the country and you should also not be given a priority. That also goes to foreign based players. Skills is what we are looking for the azkals, not residency. As for football not so popular in RP. Have you noticed that there are more football games(live and reruns) aired on TV in RP than Basketball? |
ronaldo
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| i don't think we should start calling it "programs". it still has to be implemented. and there is a big difference between "making your "plans and intentions" known compared with implementing a workable and practical program all throughout the country. if we base things on what martinez has said that he will do, then perhaps we can say his heart is in the right direction. but bear in mind that previous admins has voiced out the same proposals and nothing came out of it. martinez should come out with his program and how to go about accomplishing it. what will be the duties of the FAs and it's implementation ? what should the clubs/teams/schools do in order to participate ? what should be the role of DECS and CHED and the PSC and POF ? we have heard a lot of "good intentions" over the years, so forgive me for not riding the martinez "on the right track" bandwagon. recruiting the fil-foreigners is a step on the right direction. the principle of the medium term "intentions" are good, but then where are the details ? how do we go from point A to point B ? i know everyone will appreciate if martinez spells everything out clearly as far as these programs are concerned. that way, everyone will have an idea where he/she can best contribute or assist in it's implementation and (hopefully) success. |
ebgarias
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| Yes, i like the program Mr. Martinez is putting up right now. Short term program is to make the RP team competitive. In order for that to be achieved he brought in a respectable coach to guide them, a sponsor for their gears and recruitment of foreign based players to reinforce the squad. The 2nd program is to put up a league and find quality local players. This is where the short term program is crucial. If RP team keeps on winning and become one of Asia's best then it would attract more Filipinos to play football. If you ask a Filipino if he will support the RP football team he would then say yes but not everyone who says yes actually know how to play football. If Efren Reyes or Francisco Bustamante didn't won tournaments would you think biliards would become one of the Filipinos popular sport? Its the same story in Football. RP team should become the motivating force. Filipino's inspiration to play football because the RP National Football team is the face of football in the Philippines. Mr. Martinez did well and made a progress in developing Philippine football but its still early to say. He is not yet halfway in his term. I do hope his program would not just be another promise floating up in the air. |
Reddevil
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| Hehehe, I already got a jersey so i wont get involved in the tug of war for that one. But seriously Jack, as we talked about it last time, I am prepared to give Martinez as much time as possible. They just have to remain transparent. I just have a few comments regarding your thoughts. The first is, Caslib's only legacy being bringing in the Fil foreigners. To be fair, I think you should talk to Caslib to get a clearer picture of what he has done. It may have been the only bright spot of Romualdez' long reign. Although I'll tell you, Caslib is the last person who will boast about his accomplishments. He's just not into that stuff and is more of a motivator than a disciplinarian as a Coach. I dont think there is a more soft spoken person in all of Philippine football. And i dont think even the Filbrits will dispute how good of a Coach he is. Just look at how he used Caligdong as a sub during those crucial games in the Tiger Cup? Moreover, he was the first Filipino Coach to get an A license from the Asian Football Federation (and up to now there are only two of them, with all due respect to Coach Norman who has a B license) and led San beda to multiple NCAA championships. Realistically, he has done a lot more for Philippine football than most of the guys there at the PFF, considering the meager assets he had to work with when he started. The Philippines was already seeing improvement under him even before the Brits came in. Just to be the devil's advocate, there is a downside to our dependence on Fil Foreigners. Primarily there are the logistics and scheduling headaches for this and not to mention the financial burden of bringing these players to the Philippines. Iam starting to think with so many of them, maybe its a better idea to hold camp in Europe rather than the Philippines. Its easier to schedule our local players to go there. How I wish we had someone like Thaksin of Thailand, who could afford to spend for talents to go to Manchester. Imagine if we had someone who could arrange for our players to get trained in Europe, just support them while they stay there to get a foot into even Div 2 or Div 3 clubs. The only guy who would do that remotely is Danding C. and unfortunately his son is too busy trying to bring down the PFF instead of helping them. Anyway, i degress, I just want to say that a solution must be found to improve our local players, how to get them to the next level. I think the answer lies in the number of competitive games they play while in the developmental years from 12-16 yrs. Thats where we get left behind. By the time our guys play the same number of games as teens in Europe, they are already in their mid twenties. So yes, a league must be developed where they can play more frequently and in an organized manner wherein their skills are tracked and developed with a long term strategy in mind. |
Carl
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| Jack, isn't it doldrums, not dull drum? I hope Mr. Martinez, besides improving the national team, will also ask someone respected and capable to re-organize the P-League. It's time we got it not just up and running but sustained in the long term. |
runi
said:
| search: beckham little |
runi
said:
| i hope that his dream will be come a reality, because i want to see may son wearing a national kit in the future. you can view him in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHUI3z4tV0 |
runi
said:
| dominique is in mars now he doesnt want to go back hehehe, raffle it again hahaha |
Kiddo
said:
| I'll take that jersey if Dominique doesn't want it hehehehe |
