The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has submitted guidelines for the eventual return of all levels of football competitions amid the reduction of quarantine measures.
It could be remembered that the PFF had been coordinating with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in allowing local football teams to resume training for the upcoming 2020 season of the Philippines Football League (PFL).
This May, the PFF and the member teams submitted to GAB a 26-page "Operation Protocols on Philippines Football League" . This document consists the strategies that mimics the safety protocols put in place by other countries who have resumed or is about to resume their own local football leagues. These said implementations would be compliant with the standards set by FIFA, the World Health Organization, and the national government.
For now, the PFF is still awaiting word from the IATF's decision on this matter. For now, sporting events or team sports are still not allowed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
The PFF also hopes that the upcoming Azkals games for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers would still push through as scheduled. We are set to host Guam on October 8 and Maldives on November 17. We're also slated to face China away on November 12.
The 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup is also running between November 23 to December 31, however there is still no final confimation from the AFF. At the moment, there is still no word on how all upcoming AFF and AFC youth tournaments will proceed.
The following competitions are still on hold:
Regional Festival of Football 2020
PFF Women’s League 2020
U15 Boys Championship 2020
U17 Boys Championship 2020
U16 Girls Regional Championship
U18 Girls Regional Championship
For now, the PFF continues to study the situation in order for Philippine Football's safe return under the "New Normal".
The PFF President Mariano "Nonong" Araneta and Secretary General Atty. Edwin Gastanes continues to ask everyone to take care of their personal health and safety, and to follow the safety guidelines set by the government in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
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