The Philippine Football Federation will launch its version of the program in Cebu this month, in support of the Vision Asia program of the Asian Football Confederation.
Vision Asia is a program initiated by AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam to raise the standard of football in the Asian region, through a holistic approach, Edward Magallona, who heads the grassroots aspect of the PFF, said.
Magallona, who was in Dumaguete City for the launching of the 1st PFF/Milo Football Festival Caravan, said that the idea is to help the different countries in the region develop their individual structures best suited to their individual environment.
The program also looks at strengthening the administrative structure of national football associations, like the PFF, to complement with other Asian countries, he added.
Magallona said the AFC has visited different countries in Asia to assess and propose changes in the national associations, such as in areas like administration, officiating, grassroots, and mainly competition.
A few countries like China and Vietnam have already adopted the concept, he added.
Recently, the Philippines sent a delegation to Malaysia for a working study tour on the Vision Asia program after an assessment team had visited the PFF.
Magallona said some areas in the PFF will have to be overhauled completely, and it will even include the constitution and by-laws of the federation.
Negros Oriental sports coordinator Ernesto Ravello has thrown his support to Vision Asia-Philippines, stressing that if Asian countries patterned their football programs to complement each other, it would make the region more competitive in international competitions.
He also said that if the objective is to make Asia one of the power blocs in football, then there will have to be changes in certain areas of football development in the region.
Magallona, meanwhile, said he believes that adopting Vision Asia will make countries in the Asian more competitive in famed competitions such as the World Cup.
Africa is already participating in the World Cup and Asia is getting there through China, Japan and Korea, but there is still a lot of hard work to do to be at par with other countries, he said.
Magallona said the impact of the Vision Asia-Philippines program cannot be felt and seen overnight, but, he said he believes there is no way to go but up.
While the Philippines is not quite competitive enough in the grading of the FIFA, it has gone at least 10 or 12 steps higher in recent ranking, he said.
Meanwhile, Magallona disclosed that on May 27, the PFF will launch the Hyundai Cup in Manila to be participated in by club teams in Luzon.
Depending on resources and logistics, the same event might just be held in the Visayas and Mindanao, and hopefully, this will jumpstart the formation of a semi-professional football league in the country, he added.*JFP
