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LOS ANGELES, California - When this writer started supporting the L.A. Galaxy back in Major League Soccer’s inaugural season I had little to no expectation that ten, twelve years down the line we would be signing the likes of David Beckham. My hopes were reasonable, I thought. More than stars of international football, the U.S. needed a financially healthy professional league with a smattering of accomplished and recognized players from the rest of the Americas and a host of rising young players based in the States. Repeated loudly and often were the “mistakes” of the North American Soccer League – how they overspent on aging stars and overextended themselves into too many cities. Of course, I wanted to see the likes of Pele, Johan Cruijf, der Kaiser Beckenbauer and George Best, but I would be content to have a league that hung around for a few generations. Not that I expect to live forever. Let’s just say that I thought of myself as a patient man.
Twelve years and two MLS Cups later, we have a General Manager, Alexi Lalas, who declares, without a hint of irony, that he intends to create a world class team out of the Galaxy, one that could compete with the best in the world. Indeed, we are a long way from those early years when our most recognizable players were a wandering goalkeeper and a prime time soap opera actor. Jorge Campos was no slouch by any means. He wasn’t Mexico’s number one keeper for many years just because he was an accomplished showman. And Andrew Shue, despite his day job, was not entirely bereft of skill and talent. It was the fact that an Andy Shue was on the team was the problem. There just wasn’t enough material in the U.S. to fill MLS rosters.
Today, the U.S. has so much talent coming out of high schools and colleges that MLS can afford to turn away many young players who would be stars on 1996 teams. The best now are rewarded with recognition and handsome salaries. MLS recently began making profits on the sale of a few to clubs in established European leagues. It was time to take the next step. This year MLS boldly made that decision with the David Beckham Rule.
The David Beckham Rule
The David Beckham rule allows the infusion of world class players into the league by conditionally bypassing the league’s salary cap. Just as outstanding U.S. national team players helped raise the quality of football played in the league, the addition of international stars similarly elevates once more the level of football. The extra attention paid to the league by their presence is a further boost. So far, MLS has played their cards well. In New York, Colombian Juan Pablo Angel is on a tear, scoring nine goals in seven matches, leading the charge of the Red Bulls and giving the long-suffering NY-area supporters reason to cheer. In Columbus, the Crew are enjoying a resurgence with the help of Guille Schelotto, long-time Argentine international and Boca Juniors icon. In the coming months and into the next seasons you can expect many more internationally recognizable names to don MLS jerseys. None, however, will have the impact that David Beckham has. As a Galaxy supporter, I am looking to Becks to be the central midfielder we have sorely missed since the retirement of Mauricio Cienfuegos, the diminutive Salvadoran who was, and still is, much loved by the Galaxy faithful. As someone who has experienced the wasteland that was US football, I am ecstatic that Beckham, with his popularity and skill, is helping the domestic league grow. By playing here he brings attention to our sport like no other player in the world can. Yes, it comes at a price. Which brings me to the latest news item as of this writing – the possibility of Becks and the Galaxy coming to Manila.
Galaxy on Tour
For weeks I had been mulling over mentioning this subject in this space. My intention was to encourage interest in MLS football as much as it was about capitalizing on the interest in David Beckham. What a shocker it was to read then that almost immediately after the Beckham signing the Philippine Football Federation was contacted about such a visit. February? And not a word of it to the press? One would think that with all the attention that surrounded the transfer, someone at the PFF would consider making this inquiry public to generate some much needed attention for Philippine football. What this belated news story from Joaquin Henson prompts from this writer is attention to the PFF and its president Johnny Romualdez.
I am confused by Romualdez’s comments in the Henson piece. At once he is expressing no interest in the AEG proposal and awaiting word from them. Why wait for further word when there is no interest? Another question arises as to what it would cost to bring the Galaxy to the Philippines. Where does Romualdez get this $500,000 figure? Do we just take his word for it? Assuming half a million dollars is the cost of bringing the Galaxy to the country, given that such a visit “would surely fuel badly needed interest in football,” one would think that inquiries would have been made to gather potential sponsors by this time. Who in their right mind would imagine that the PFF would foot the bill themselves? That the PFF would sit on the AEG inquiry for months begs the question of the PFF’s willingness to explore every available option to promote football in the Philippines.
Then there is the other reason why they would not accommodate a Galaxy visit: the inauguration of the new PFF building. Pardon the derisive laughter, but in the greater scheme of promoting football, is cutting a ribbon more productive than filling a stadium full of football fans? In fairness to the PFF President, I will assume that the VIP who trumps a football match is not the president of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur, Bob Elphinston, as Henson writes, but FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter. (At least I hope that “FIBA” was a misprint.) I suppose that the padrino of national football federation presidents does merit special attention, especially when the man controls untold amounts of largesse.
Boondoggle House of Philippine Football
By the way, is anyone asking why the PFF needs a new administrative building? With all the problems in Philippine football, was a multi-story administrative building a priority? This writer can only imagine what could have been done with the money instead. A new training facility for Philippine national teams or, at the very least, the upgrading of existing facilities to international standards would have been more in line with the stated goals of the PFF. Other nations, with much less money to spend on sport have chosen this path. The Philippines’ choice is shocking.
In April of this year Romualdez said that it was “too costly and counterproductive” to participate in World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Apparently, a new building is no such thing. FIFA allocated $400,000 for this monument to waste. It boggles the mind that the comfort of bureaucrats and paper pushers comes first in Philippine football. Sadly, it comes with the explicit approval of FIFA.
Coaching in absentia
While we’re on the subject of national teams, two items bear mentioning. In the recent two-leg friendly between the Philippines WNT and visiting Singapore I was struck by the fact that head coach Marlon Maro was not present. Reason given in the article by Jasmine W. Payo was that he had a “previous official engagement.” In all my years of following international football, I have yet to hear of a national team coach missing an official match, even a friendly, for such nebulous reasons. Short of a death in the family there can be very few reasons that would excuse a national team coach from his or her duty. If Philippine football is going to earn the respect of the world shouldn’t national team staff first show respect to Philippine football? Making attendance at their matches their first priority would be a start. Is a national team assignment a privilege or a part-time job? That this practice is tolerated reflects very badly on the PFF. That the sport media chose to ignore this explains why this practice will continue.
Filipino citizens on Philippine teams
Finally, in a news item that has potential ramifications for Philippine football, FIFA last week issued a clarification on eligibility for national teams. The clarification seems to affect national teams that had players that were eligible as long as they lived in that country and who were in danger of losing that eligibility if they were to move to join a club in another country, for instance. The ruling prohibits players who are not full citizens to play for that adopted country. Andreas Herren, FIFA spokesperson said, “'all any country has to do is grant that player full unconditional citizenship and he is eligible to play for that country whether he lives there or not.”
Currently, children of a parent of Filipino citizenship are automatically Filipino themselves. MNT players such as the Younghusbands, have one parent who is Filipino, but do they have “full unconditional citizenship?” It does merit further attention by the authorities. FIFA sent this clarification in a letter to all 208 members. Is this something the PFF and supporters should worry about? Hopefully, we don’t find out on the eve of the next international. It would be better yet if the powers that be in Philippine football created the conditions whereby home-grown talent could reach levels comparable to our neighbors. The difficulty is that football fields would have to take precedence over office buildings and we all know where our football authorities’ priorities lie, don’t we?
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