TO PREPARE for the possible return to action of the Philippines Football League (PFL), the local football federation has been busy preparing its training center in Cavite for league use.
The Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the body overseeing the affairs of the PFL, said following the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for the local professional football league to resume training albeit under strict health and safety protocols, it has been constantly working on the National Training Center so as when teams start coming in to train everything will be ready and up to standards.
The two-hectare facility inside the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Carmona is being groomed to be a “bubble” for all the competing PFL teams not only in training but also during league matches when given the go-ahead by the IATF, the lead government agency in the country’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Everything being done in the PFF training center is in compliance with the operations protocols the federation submitted to the IATF, which did a lot in convincing the latter to grant the PFF’s request for a gradual return to activities.
The PFF is building on the developments it has done in the facility, which has hosted various competitions, in the last couple of years.
The National Training Center now consists of one FIFA-funded 105mx68m artificial turf and two 20mx40m mini artificial pitches funded by the Asian Football Confederation. Floodlights systems for all pitches are now awaiting electricity connection.
With the mini-pitches, the PFF said clubs may utilize three artificial pitches for training sessions, in line with the health and safety guidelines put up, particularly that on physical distancing.
Other measures in the PFF operations protocols include mandatory temperature checks and health declaration prior to entry, sanitizing mats in the entry and exit areas, regular surface and equipment disinfection before and after each training session, availability of hand sanitizers at key areas and mandatory wearing of face masks when not training in the pitch.
The fourth season of the PFL was supposed to start in March but was postponed to a still-to-be-determined date because of COVID-19.
It got good new early this month when the IATF approved its application for a return to some activities.
The league recently conducted swab testing of players and coaches as part of its return preparations.
“Football we will be back. Right now safety of everybody is primary for us and we just have to be patient,” said PFL commissioner Coco Torre. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
