UNLESS the 25 of 32 voting FA (football association) presidents change their minds, it looks like Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta is set for another term.
Cedelf Tupas, the country’s top dog when it comes to football, wrote that Araneta got the backing of 25 of the 32 FAs, whose presidents will do the actual voting in November, when the PFF holds its congress.
The meeting with the representatives was done in Bacolod, the turf of the other candidate Ricky Yanson, during the China vs. Philippines World Cup qualifiers match.
And as I suspect, Araneta said he had no plans to run and only decided to because it is Ricky Yanson who is running.
“I was thinking of not running anymore as I have served football for a long time... but because of the circumstances right now, I am forced to run again to protect football from infighting,” he said.
What are the circumstances? The infighting among the Yanson family regarding control of the country’s biggest corporation.
It will spread to football should Ricky win the presidency because on the other side of the fence is Ceres FC, which Araneta said is the standard-bearer for club football in the country.
Interestingly enough, Araneta credited Leo Rey Yanson’s support for the staging of the Azkals matches in Bacolod City.
Why? The Negros Occidental Football Association of Ricky wasn’t involved? Or has the feud spread to that already?
Though I pick no sides in the Yanson dispute, I agree with Nonong in this one. There’s only room for one Yanson in the national football scene and right now, that happens to be Leo Rey, the owner of Ceres FC.
This is not to say that Ricky doesn’t have what it takes to be a president of the PFF. I’m just saying that now isn’t the right time.
Perhaps in another four years, when the dispute has been settled with finality or if the family--as the rest of the country is hoping--has patched up their differences.
Then perhaps we can have him as the PFF president.
I hope that if Nonong wins, he will reach out to the supporters of Ricky and will also answer the points raised by Ricky’s supporters, especially the lack of a grassroots program in the country, especially in Mindanao.
I also continue to hope that between now and the PFF congress in November, the electoral process in the PFF will continue to be genial.