KAYA FUTBOL Club-Iloilo and Ceres Negros FC will be two of the teams that will compete in the Philippine Premier League (PPL), which is tentatively scheduled to start this March.
PPL commissioner Bernie Sumayao said that the PPL, a reboot of the Philippines Football League (PFL), will run from the end of March to December and matches to be held in Metro Manila.
Just like in the PFL, PPL will have two conferences with the first being the League, which is a three round-robin contest, and the Copa Paulino Alcantara, where the teams will fight among their group mates.
âPotentially in the third leg (last round of matches), weâll hold matches in provinces like Cebu or Iloilo, and weâll hold matches over the course of a couple of weeks, and all the matches will be played there,â said Sumayao.
Among the fundamental shifts the PPL will be prioritizing is a framework to increase participation of clubs, with a vision to create a full First Division, a Second Division, and even a Third in the coming years.
âThis is a rebirth, a reboot,â said Sumayao, who played a key role in growing the now flourishing Thai League. âOur agenda is to be able to reach the same level as the leagues around us in the region (Asia). That is truly the goal of the PPL.â
âWeâre trying to raise the profile of football,â he added. âFootball is not an elitist sport. There was also a lack of sponsorship. All of these things were missing. These are the elements we want to bring in this time around.â
Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President Nonong Araneta said that the PPL will serve as the qualifier for Asian Football Confederation competitions.
âThere will only be one Professional League â the Philippine Premier League,â said Araneta. âThe PFF is still the governing body of the league. Clubsâ AFC qualification will not be affected.â
Aside from Kaya Iloilo and Ceres-Negros, other teams that have showed interest in the PPL were the Stallion Laguna, Green Archers United, and Philippine Air Force./PN
