by Paolo del Rosario
The Philippines Football League (PFL) set an optimistic target to open their season 30 days from the resumption of training on September 2.
Speaking at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday morning, Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President Nonong Araneta and PFL Commissioner Coco Torre addressed concerns regarding the country's top football league.
The PFL's kickoff is dependent on the next few weeks after football clubs finally received the green light to train at the PFF's National Training Center.
According to Araneta, the PFL will seek approval from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to kick-off the competition when the training period goes well.
"We have to look first to how the training is going on regarding the observance of the safety protocols and the venue itself, the safety protocols of the venue," Araneta said. "Maybe after half a month or 20 days -- if everything goes well -- then we have to apply again to IATF, to GAB on the resumption of the league itself."
"Yung consideration for the approval is dependent on the success on how we conduct the trainings," Torre added. "So we really hope na zero infections talaga tayo during the training para ma approve ng IATF yung application to kick off the league."
The PFL is hopeful there will be enough time to hold a double-round robin competition with six clubs. The format could still be changed depending on how much time the league has to complete the season.
Whether or not the entire league has to go into a bubble for the season is still being studied by the organizers.
"First option is that we go with a bubble, let's say we do the bubble for one month, yung competition would be one month duration," Torre said. "The second option to combat COVID-19 is frequency of testing."
Torre went on to point out that while the NBA has set a good example through their implementation of a bubble, the majority of football leagues around the world continued without having to go into a bubble.
"NBA did a bubble, but yung other football leagues didn't do a bubble," he added.
There are six teams expected to compete during the 2020 season, namely the rebranded United City FC, Kaya FC, the Azkals Development Team, Mendiola FC 1991, Stallion Laguna FC, and the newly-formed Maharlika FC.
As of posting time, Maharlika FC, which is founded by former Philippine Azkal Anton del Rosario, is awaiting the approval of the PFF's First Instance Body to be granted a license to compete this season. The newly-minted club is expected to take the place of Global FC, who lost their spot due to their inability to fulfill their financial obligations.
Extra-time:
- The PFF will receive FIFA funding for COVID relief through US$ 1.5 million. Part of the relief will be used for the resumption of football, while US$ 500,000 is earmarked for women's football.
- Araneta expects the 2020 AFC Cup competition to be delayed further due to the rise in COVID cases in Vietnam. Despite the delay, Araneta said the AFC is looking for a new venue to complete the season this year.
- AFC looking to finish the 2020 season due to sponsorship commitments.
https://tv5.espn.com/story/_/id/29783823/pfl-looks-kick-season-october
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