NOW that I have your attention, there actually won’t be a boycott but there might as well be one considering that the game between Global Cebu and the Davao Aguilas will be at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday. Yep, 4 p.m. on a school day.
My son and I haven’t missed a single PFL game so far but for us--and perhaps, like the rest of the thousands who’ve been regulars in the stands--we are going to miss the first time the Younghusbands play for Davao in Cebu because at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, he’s still in school.
There were efforts to have the kick-off moved to 7 p.m. and that both clubs have agreed to it. The PFL initially agreed to the move but has since reverted to the 4 p.m. fixture since a change would make it “unprofessional.”
I understand the league’s position, that this is no barangay-level tournament where kick-off is when the other party decides to show up but in this case, being “rigid professionals” will hurt the sport. The PFL is just on its first year and establishing fan support is crucial; moving the kick-off three hours away won’t tarnish the league’s image. In fact, it will improve it. That instead of being a “my-way or the highway” foreign entity, it has the fans in mind.
The PFL required its teams to partner with communities so the teams will not only have a regional identity, but will have a fan base, too. But aside from that, at one point the clubs and PFL will have to defer to the wisdom of the local community and no one knows Cebu football better than the Cebuanos. This isn’t Malaysia nor Manila, this is Cebu and in Cebu no organizer holds a match at 4 p.m. on a weekday.
The local community has bent over backwards to accommodate Global and the PFL; heck, a tournament booked months in advance was moved three weeks early because a postponed PFL game was scheduled a day after the event. That is how the football community here works, we adjust for the good of the game.
It’s not about being unprofessional, it’s about understanding what makes a good partnership and this is a chance for the PFL to be truly part of the community and isn’t that what should be the target?
The CFA, I heard, is targeting only 500 fans for the 4 p.m. game but even I think that’s going to be too optimistic. They’d be lucky to have 100 fans in the stands.
I will consider it a success if there is going to be one fan for every player in the field on Wednesday’s game and that’s despite the presence of the Younghusbands.
From an attendance of as high as 5,400 to as low as 22.
The game is six days away. I wish that the PFL will find it prudent to move the match to a 7 p.m. kick-off. And a final appeal, a 4 p.m. kick-off may lead to the PFL getting banned from using the Cebu City Sports Center forever.
The CCSC is part of the Abellana National School and there are classes at 4 p.m. Should the 4 p.m. game prove to be disruptive to classes, I won’t be surprised if Mayor Tomas Osmeña will order CCSC to cancel all PFL games.
I hope it’s not too late to make it a 7 p.m. kick-off.