Philippine Football Federation

Philippine Football Federation

AFC
Founded	1907;117 years ago (1907)
Headquarters	Pasig, Metro Manila
FIFA affiliation	1930
AFC affiliation	1954
AFF affiliation	1984
President	John Gutierrez
Vice-President	Lawrence Fortun (first) Jay Adriatico (second)
General Secretary	Gelix Mercader
Website	www.pff.org.ph

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in Asia and is among the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The PAFA reorganized as the Philippine Football Association (PFA), and later as the Philippine Football Federation.

Aside from being a member of the AFC, the PFF is also a member of the ASEAN Football Federation. It is recognized as the national sports association (NSA) for the sport of football in the Philippines by Philippine Olympic Committee.

It organizes the Philippines men's, women's and youth national football teams (as well as national teams for the football variants of futsal and beach soccer). It is also responsible for the organization of domestic football tournaments in the Philippines such as the Philippines Football League and the Copa Paulino Alcantara through the Liga Futbol Inc., and the PFF Women's League.

History

Early history

The football body's origins dates back to 1907 when it was established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA). It was among the twelve founding Asian football associations of the Asian Football Confederation.

In 1917, the first Spanish and Filipino footballer to play for a European club, Paulino Alcántara Riestra, was selected by the Philippines to represent the country at the Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo. He helped them defeat Japan 15–2, which remains the largest win in Philippine international football history.

In 1961, stakeholders of Philippine football officially organized themselves to establish the Philippine Football Association (PFA) which was later reorganized as the Philippine Football Federation in 1982. ^[1]

Adad era

In October 1996, Rene Adad was installed as PFF president after a snap election which ousted his predecessor, Ricardo Tan. ^[2] In 2002, the PFF inaugurated its first regional center in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. ^[3]

Martinez era

The PFF under the Presidency of Jose Mari Martinez saw crises which challenged his leadership as well as the national teams.

Under Martinez, the PFF also had a new headquarters, the PFF House of Football in Pasig, which was inaugurated by then FIFA President Sepp Blatter and AFC President bin Hammam in 2008. ^[4] The PFF moved to the building after occupying the PhilSports Complex as its headquarters for decades. ^[5]

In 2009, a crisis affected the Philippine women's national futsal which resulted to the ouster of women's futsal coach Emmanuel Batungbacal and long-time men's national football coach Juan Cutillas. Batungbacal was sacked allegedly leading the futsal team in a tournament without sanction from the PFF. Batungbacal said that he had sanction and he claimed Martinez ignored to make a dialogue with him on the matter. The players who played under Batungbacal resigned from international duty as protests. Martinez said that a lack of suitable coaching license was the reason to Batungbacal's dismissal. ^[6]

On 27 November 2010, at the PFF 7th Ordinary Congress at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig, Martinez was ousted by 25 Presidents out of the 29 present member associations to approve a resolution made by 8 members of the Board of Governors calling for the ousting and replacement of Martinez as PFF president. Martinez was dismissed due to allegedly falsifying public documents and misusing funds. Mariano Araneta was named Interim President. ^[7]

Araneta era

After serving as Interim President for about a year after Martinez's ouster in 2010, Araneta was elected as president on 26 November 2011 at a PFF congress held at the Astoria Plaza in Pasig. ^[8]

On 14 October 2016, at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Pasig, the Online PFF Player Registration System was launched following a contract signing between the PFF, MMC Sportz Marketing and RSportz. The initiative by the PFF is among the first in Southeast Asia. The registration system will create a database of Filipino players which will be accessible to organizers of PFF-sanctioned tournaments. The registration system was planned to be online by November 2016. ^[9]

In November 2016, Araneta announced that the PFF will move its headquarters to Carmona, Cavite in 2017 where an artificial football pitch is due to be finished within the month. The new location will also house a dormitory, a natural grass pitch and corporate offices. ^[5]

The PFF's registration system dubbed "My PFF" was officially launched in June 2017 and will be embedded in PFF's website on 3 July 2017 to be more accessible for registrants. ^[10]

A financial issue with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was resolved on September 14, 2018, when the PFF remitted ₱4.8 million amount of unliquidated financial assistance from the government agency. The scope of the financial aid covers the administrations of the PFF from past 1996 to 2010. ^[11]

The PFF was given the right to hold AFC ‘A’ and AFC ‘B’ Diploma Courses in the Philippines by the Asian Football Confederation starting 2019. ^[12] The federation launched its first esports tournament, the PFF eTrophy which featured the video game title FIFA 21 in 2021. ^[13]

On July 30, 2022, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new PPF headquarters in Carmona took place. ^[14] In November 2022, the PFF decided to allow the expansion of its regional associations. ^[15]

Gutierrez era

Araneta, bound to a two-term limit, ends his presidency. The PFF held an election on 25 November 2023 to determine its new set of officials. ^{[16] [17]}

John Gutierrez of Bukidnon FA was elected as Araneta's successor. ^{[18] [19]} The other candidates were Filbert Alquiros of Stallion Laguna, and Henry Sabate of Davao-South RFA. ^{[17] [20] [21]} Gutierrez garnered 30 out of 36 votes, with the other contenders receiving three votes each. ^[22]

Presidents

List of presidents

Name	Term
	Start	End
Manuel Tinio [23]	?
Ramon Farolan [23]	?
Felipe Monserrat	1962	1967
Luis Javellana	?	1969
Andres Soriano Jr.	1969	1981
Francisco Elizalde	1982	1986
Henri Kahn	1988	1989
Lope Pascual	?	1995
Honesto Isleta (acting)	1995
Ricardo Tan	1995	1996
Rene Adad	1996	2004
Johnny Romualdez	2004	2008
Jose Mari Martinez	2008	2010
Mariano Araneta [8]	2010	2023
John Gutierrez	2023	incumbent

Association staff

Name	Position	Source
John Gutierrez	President	[18]
Lawrence Fortun	First Vice President	[18]
Jay Adriatico	Second Vice President	[18]
Gelix Mercader	General Secretary	[24]
Kevin Goco	Assistant General Secretary
Josep Ferré	Technical Director	[25]
Albert Capellas	Team Coach (Men's)	[25] [26]
Mark Torcaso	Team Coach (Women's)	[25] [26]
Vincent Santos	Director of Football
Freddy Gonzalez	Director of National Teams	[27]
Mikhail De Guzman	Media/Communications Manager	[25]
Cedelf Tupas	Broadcast Chief	[28]
Tetsuya Tsuchida	Youth Development Head	[29] [30]
Michael Kevin Goco	Futsal Department Head	[25] [31]
Allan Martinez	Referee Coordinator	[25]
Maja Paula Ano	Child safeguarding officer	[25] [26]

Member associations

There are 36 member associations, three of which are professional football clubs, under the PFF. ^[32]

• Agusan del Sur – Surigao del Sur RFA
• Cordillera RFA
• Bukidnon FA
• Butuan – Agusan Del Norte FA
• RFA of Camarines Norte
• Camiguin-Misamis Oriental FA
• Central Visayas RFA
• Golden Davao RFA
• North Davao RFA
• Davao R.F.A.
• Iligan – Lanao Regional Football Association (Iligan-Lanao RFA)
• Iloilo FA
• Laguna – Cavite RFA
• Legazpi City – Albay Federated RFA
• East Visayas R.F.A.
• Federated F.A. of Masbate
• Central Bicol RFA
• National Capital Region F.A.
• Negros Occidental F.A.
• Negros Oriental – Siquijor RFA
• Maguindanao-Cotabato City FA
• Misamis Occidental – Ozamis FA
• Mount Apo RFA
• Oriental Mindoro FA
• Quezon – Batangas RFA
• FA of Rizal
• South Cotabato – Sarangani – Gen. Santos City RFA (SOCSARGEN RFA)
• Sultan Kudarat RFA
• Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands RFA
• Central Luzon RFA
• Zamboanga del Norte – Dipolog RFA
• Pagadian – Zamboanga del Sur – Sibugay RFA
• Zamboanga – Basilan – Sulu – Tawi-tawi FA (ZAMBASULTA FA)
• Kaya FC-Iloilo
• Stallion Laguna FC
• United City FC

PFF competitions

National league

• Philippines Football League
• PFF Women's League

National Cups

• Copa Paulino Alcantara
• PFF Women's Cup
• PFF National Men's Club Championship (defunct)

Youth competitions

• PFF U-19 Boys National Football Championship
• PFF National Men's U-23 Championship (defunct)
• PFF National U-22 Amateur Championship (inactive)
• PFF U-15 Boys National Championship (inactive)

Esports

• PFF eTrophy

Current title holders

Competition	Year	Champions	Title	Runners-up	Next edition
Men's
Senior
Philippines Football League	2024	Kaya–Iloilo	2nd	Dynamic Herb Cebu	2024–25
Copa Paulino Alcantara	2023	Kaya–Iloilo	3rd	Davao Aguilas
Youth
PFF U-19 Boys National Football Championship	2024	Central Visayas F.A.	1st	Negros Occidental F.A.	2025
Women's
Senior
PFF Women's League	2023	Kaya–Iloilo	1st	Manila Digger	2025
PFF Women's Cup	2022	Far Eastern University	3rd	University of the Philippines	2024

National team coaches

Men's team Name National team Albert Capellas Under-23 team Norman Fegidero Under-19 team Josep Ferré Under-16 team Yuki Matsuda Futsal team Christian Dominguez

Women's team Name National team Mark Torcaso Under-20 team Siniša Cohadzić Under-17 team Futsal team Victor Hermans

Honors

The PFF was given the AFC President Recognition Award for Grassroots Football in the Developing Category in 2014 ^[33] and in 2016. ^[34]

See also

• Philippines national futsal team
• Philippines women's national futsal team
• List of football clubs in the Philippines
• Philippine football clubs in Asian competitions

References

1. "Philippine Football Federation". Philippine Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
2. Atencio, Peter (8 October 1986). "Things perking up for local football". Manila Standard. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
3. Henson, Joaquin (11 July 2002). "Soccer a Sleeping Giant in RP". Manila: Philippine Star.
4. "Blatter champions football in Philippine". FIFA. 4 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
5. Olivares, Rick (3 November 2016). "PFF set to move to new HQ in Cavite". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
6. "Crisis hits RP women's futsal team, PFF". ABS-CBN News. 10 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
7. Olivares, Rick (29 November 2010). "PFF Congress boots out Mari Martinez". Bleachers Brew. Business Mirror. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
8. Terrado, Jonas (28 November 2011). "Araneta re-elected". Tempo. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
9. "PFF Launches Online Player Registration System". Philippine Football Federation. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
10. "Philippine Football Federation goes 'live' with 'MY PFF'". ABS-CBN Sports. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
11. "Philippine Football Federation clears accounts with PSC". Philippine Star. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
12. "PFF Christmas Message 2018". Philippine Football Federation. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
13. Li, Matthew (9 April 2021). "PFF launches efootball tourney". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
14. Terrado, Reuben (30 July 2022). "New PFF headquarters in Carmona set to be built". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
15. Manolo Pedralvez (21 November 2022). "PFF adds more regional associations to promote football". ABS CBN. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
16. Suing, Ivan (6 November 2023). "Araneta leaving PFF in style". Daily Tribune. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
17. Atencio, Peter (13 November 2023). "18 Philippine football positions up for grabs in election". Manila Standard. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
18. Terrado, Jonas (26 November 2023). "Big shoes to fill as Gutierrez succeeds Araneta". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
19. Leyba, Olmin (26 November 2023). "Gutierrez elected new PFF head". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
20. "Candidates for PFF Elections 2023 announced". 10 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
21. "Alquiros eyes PFF presidency, aims to build on Araneta's programs". ABS-CBN News. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
22. "New PFF president to prioritize youth, grassroots dev't". ABS-CBN News. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
23. Henson, Joaquin (3 April 2004). "PFF sets tone for soccer revival". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
24. "PFF appoints new General Secretary". Philippine Football Federation. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
25. FIFA.com. "Member Association - Philippines". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
26. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
27. "PFF appoints Freddy Gonzalez as Director of National Teams". Philippine Football Federation. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
28. Magallon, Reynald (21 July 2022). "PBA honors historic Filipinas for bagging AFF crown". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
29. "Tetsuya Tsuchida appointed as PFF Head of Youth Development". Philippine Football Federation. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
30. "Tsuchida appointed as PFF Head of Youth Development". ASEAN Football Federation. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
31. "PFF Acknowledges Futsal Development in the Philippines". 26 April 2018.
32. "Member Associations" . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
33. Reyes, Jaelle Nevin (13 November 2016). "PFF nominated for AFC grassroots award" . Retrieved 14 November 2016.
34. Kumar, Ashwani (2 December 2016). "Asia's best: Omar Abdulrahman". Abu Dhabi: Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2 December 2016.

External links

• Philippines at FIFA site (archived 7 June 2007)
• Philippines at AFC site
• AFF webpage
• Statutes of the Philippine Football Federation (in force since December 30, 2013)