As reported on Philter news on 7th January, nine teams are set to kick start the maiden campaign with Global, Ceres, Stallion, Loyola Meralco Sparks, Kaya, Green Archers United and JP Voltes and (New update) the Davao Aguilar FC.
The excitement is unbelievable! The beauty of having a National League is going viral among the game lovers I have met.
With the League about to kick-start, there are a couple of things that may not be very clear to some club owners, players, and fans.
.There are 9 teams that have shown interest and almost ready to go. Nine is an odd number. Does it mean one team will always have to be on a stand by during match weeks? How will it work?
Will there be second division league as it was in the time of UFL? Some believe to maintain competitiveness in the League second division would be eminent. As clubs are fighting to be champion and to qualify for the AFC competition, the bottom teams should also be fighting to avoid relegation.
Is there salary cap in PFL for local and international players? UFL had problems especially in the 2016 season because of lack of sufficient salary caps that will allow local players in particular to see football as their primary job and stay competitive and focused in the game. Some teams in UFL 2016 abandoned their matches because they found it difficult to make up a team in some occasions as players had to go to their other work and finally dropped out of the league when matches was moved to day time.
Will there be cup competition? It is very important in every country that has a professional league that the cup goes on also during the league season. This gives chances to the non-league clubs or lower division clubs to also participate in the competition with a chance to play against top tier clubs and to expose their players.
How will the youth league look like since we now have a National League? Will it be regional? Will non-league clubs that can fulfill youth team requirements be allowed to participate? What are the age groups that will participate in the PFL youth league?
This new league (PFL} is already having an impact in terms of stadium development and I look forward to seeing more great things that it is going to give to the Philippine football and the value it is going to add to the National team and country in general.
Even if all the questions may not have an answer this season for football enthusiasts, I’m confident that Philippines and (PFF) is in the right path of establishing something great with the introduction of Philippine Football League (PFL).
