The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) welcomed the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) with regards to the gradual return of professional football in the country.
In an announcement made this morning, 03 July 2020, the IATF, upon recommendation of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), has approved the request of various stakeholders to conduct official training sessions of professional teams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the government’s approval, Philippines Football League (PFL) clubs may now conduct training sessions, following certain protocols among which is:
- Training sessions must be conducted with a maximum of 10 people per training session with a 30-minute interval in between sessions.
PFF officials happily received the latest development on the resumption of professional sports in the country. It may be recalled that PFF submitted in May 2020 to GAB the “PFF Operations Protocol for the Philippines Football League” which prescribed the steps and protocols for the resumption of training, and eventually playing of matches, following guidelines that can be obtained from issuances of FIFA, the World Health Organization (WHO), and now by the IATF.
“We thank both IATF and GAB, headed by Chairman Abaraham Mitra, for their approval in ensuring that professional sports may push through despite the ongoing pandemic,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta, Jr. “The next step now is to ensure the health and safety of the players, as we prepare for the eventual start of training of PFL teams.”
“PFF would like to emphasize that the health and safety of the players are most important in ensuring that the league pushes through this year,” added PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes. “With the IATF’s approval, PFL teams can now proceed to train so that players’ match fitness is achieved and injury is prevented during the eventual resumption of PFL.
PFF will now inform all the clubs about the approved protocols which needs to be observed by all stakeholders.
