Jefferson Cheng is a Filipino businessman and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

administrator. He is the current manager of the

Philippines women's national football team The Philippines women's national football team represents the Philippines in international women's football. It is managed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the governing body of football in the country. The women's national foot ...

Education

Cheng attended

Xavier School English: ''Let your light shine!'' , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuit) , established = , founders = , president = Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ , chairman = Johnip Cua , administrator = , re ...

where he used to play competitive football as a leftback. He also studied at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

where he graduated with a degree in architecture.

Career

Club football

Cheng owns Davao Aguilas F.C., a club which used to play in the

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Filipino professional football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines' highest level of men's club football, supplanting the United Foo ...

. He is also the co-owner of A-League club

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

Philippine women national team

President Marcos and Jefferson Cheng 2022-07-20

Cheng has also been a sponsor of the

since 2017. He was appointed the team manager of the team in 2017. He has been also a co-chair of the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

Women's Committee. As team manager, he oversaw the national team in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers, as well as the tournament proper held in India. His connections in Australia, led to the hiring of

Alen Stajcic Alen Stajcic (born 2 November 1973) is a former Australian soccer player and is the head coach of the Philippines women's national football team. While as a footballer he was a NSW Premier League player and an Australian Youth Representative. ...

as head coach for Philippines' stint in the Asian Cup. Under Stajcic and Cheng, the Philippines ended its campaign as semifinalists and qualified for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the women's national association football teams organised ...

– their first ever World Cup.

Philippine youth national teams

Cheng has also been a sponsor of the Philippine youth national team system; from the under-19 to the under-23 team.

Other ventures

Cheng serves as the director of Sabre Sports United and president of Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions. He has been the director of the International Goalkeeping Academy of

Jimmy Fraser Jimmy Fraser (born 28 April 1948) is an Australian retired football (soccer) player. Fraser played eight matches for Australia. He is the current goalkeeping coach of the Philippines women's national team. Playing career Jimmy played for 1st ...

. He also sponsors local youth tournaments in Davao through his company Speed Regalo.

Personal life

Jefferson Cheng has a son named Enzo who has been a member of the Philippines national under-19 and under-22 national teams.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino football chairmen and investors University of the Philippines alumni {{Australia-footy-bio-stub