RISE AND [FURTHER] RISE: Pinay football ready to take the next level, says Araneta

For Mariano Araneta, now is the right time to continue the development of women's football as he saw the growing rise of the game.

The president of the Philippine Football Federation stressed the need to take them to the next level, as the global relevance to the game grows exponentially, in which the Malditas excelled in both youth and senior level.

"The success of women’s football worldwide gives inspiration to the players,"  Araneta said during last Friday's edition of Pinay Futbol's Grow Her Game podcast hosted by Belay Fernando and Natasha Alquiros, who themselves are former national team stalwarts in the early part of the past decade. “There’s a massive potential for women’s football in the country.” 

He added that the youth movement was one of the primary reasons for the rise of the sport, yet there is something more that has to be done in order for it to go full bloom.

"The ingredients are there," he added. "Except that we still don't have a lot of tournaments. What we are trying to do is to get more tournaments."

Araneta also cited that the lady booters have lived up to the feisty nature of their team's nickname, saying that they have fought tooth and nail to make the country proud.

"You can see the passion of the Women’s National Teams, they’re willing to give their 100% for the country."

The landscape of the distaff side gained significantly over the past decade, especially in the past two years where the Malditas nearly made it to the Women's World Cup last year, in which they followed it up in 2019 with two fourth-place finishes in both the AFF Championship and the Southeast Asian Games in which the country had hosted that draw full capacity crowds.

Those results have closed the gap between the Filipinas and the traditional powerhouses in the sub-continent in Vietnam, Myanmar and Women's World Cup veterans Thailand as they seek to continue their rise.

 “As long as we are competing in international women’s football competitions year in and year out, we have a better chance of getting good results and in turn, raise the level of women’s football.”

With that in mind, the PFF is taking steps to take them to the next level, as FIFA gave them a grant of $500,000 in order for them to improve their existing projects and create new ones for the future.

“We have to strive to organize more women’s football competitions,” he added. “If the competitions are interesting, it will improve the quality of the game, help develop the player’s abilities, and open marketing opportunities such as sponsorships which can lead to expansion and teams’ sustainability.” 

Included in their plans is the gradual professionalization of its Women's League as they are finding a title sponsor, taking inspiration from the men's PFL that has Qatar Airways in the dock in 2020. And if not for the coronavirus pandemic, the PFF is looking to start two regional tournaments for the U16 and the U18 levels.

"We really have to sell the league in order to attract the sponsors," Araneta quipped, in which the women's game has the MVP Sports Foundation on its back. "Why not join the bandwagon, so the league can improve more and make it attractive."

As they almost got close in their quest to France last year, the PFF had the tools in their arsenal as they make a serious push to qualify for the next edition in 2023, where Australia and New Zealand jointly host the expanded Women's World Cup.

"Our aim is to grow women's football to a competitive level with our neighbors. When we go to that level, we can compete already with other teams in Asia," Araneta concluded.

Photo: Philippine Football Federation (File)