THE rebranded local club football league — Philippine Premier League — is scheduled to fire off later this month with seven teams set to participate.
In an announcement shared to members of media at the weekend, PPL Commissioner Bernie Sumayao said that after the evaluation process seven teams had made the cut and would compose the roster of participants when the league kicks off on March 30.
The competing teams are Ceres-Negros FC, Green Archers United Globe FC, Kaya Iloilo FC, Mendiola FC, Philippine Air Force FC, Stallion Laguna FC and Global Cebu FC (United Makati FC).
Mr. Sumayao said all the teams would see action in both the League Competition and the Paulino Alcantara Cup.
The full schedule of the matches for the League competition will be released on March 15 but the PPL said that on opening day at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium there will be a double-header at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The latter will be a featured televised match over ESPN5 Plus and via livestream.
Took over from the Philippines Football League (PFL), the PPL is aiming to lead local club football to a new direction of sustainability.
“PPL is sort of a rebirth of the PFL. There were experiences there that were difficult and challenging so we want to set a reboot and set it up again. We want to set up stronger fundamentals for the sport, the development of the players and the league itself,” said Mr. Sumayao early this year when the PPL was formally introduced.
“We are going back to the first phase, start on the right footing,” he added.
The PFL had a two-year run with Ceres earning back-to-back league titles and Kaya bagging the Paulino Alcantara Cup last year. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo