PHILIPPINE Football Federation president Mariano Araneta won a seat in the Fifa Council on Monday during the 27th AFC Congress in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Araneta will serve from 2017-2019 alongside fellow Asians Zhang Jian of China, and Chung Mong-Gyu of Korea Republic, who were also elected as members of the Fifa Council.
Monico Puentevella, a member of the Fifa TV and Marketing Committee, said the election augurs well not only for the Philippines, but for other Asian countries as well, especially for developing countries.
“Nonong and I have been in Fifa quite long enough. After all these years, finally it paid off. You can’t find a better man for the job. And this (hopefully) means more events, projects, and development of football for our country, too,” Puentevella said.
“This Fifa trip to Bahrain has been a long and tiring one, but it turned productive to all of us here. As far as I know, aside from the late Cris Monfort, this is the highest post ever accorded to a Filipino and we should celebrate his election today,” he added. (HGD)