Mariano "Nonong" V. Araneta, Jr. (born November 9, 1954) is a Filipino sports executive, businessman and retired footballer. Araneta formerly played for the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team (Filipino/ tl, Pambansang koponan ng futbol ng Pilipinas, lit=) represents the Philippines in international football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationa ...

. He is the current president 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 ...

(PFF) and a member of the

FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...

since May 2017.

Early life and education

Araneta was born on November 9, 1954, in

Barotac Nuevo Barotac Nuevo, officially the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo ( hil, Banwa sang Barotac Nuevo, tgl, Bayan ng Barotac Nuevo), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

. He played for his town's team in province-wide football tournaments held during the summer and Christmas season during his childhood. For his high school studies, Araneta attended the

University of the Philippines Iloilo The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV or UP Visayas) is a public research university in the Philippines with campuses and facilities throughout the Visayas. A constituent university of the University of the Philippines system, it teaches ...

. For his collegiate studies, he took up Civil Engineering at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines. He was a varsity player for both the university's basketball and football team.

Basketball career

Araneta played for the

UP Fighting Maroons The UP Fighting Maroons are the collegiate varsity teams of the University of the Philippines, primarily off University of the Philippines Diliman, Diliman, which play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere ...

basketball team for three years in the 1970s. He played as a point guard due to his football background. He was offered to play for a farm team of Mariwasa, a team in the

Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association The Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) was a sports association which existed in Manila, Philippines from 1938 to 1981. Throughout its existence, it staged various sports and was participated by prominent Philippine co ...

(MICAA), by UP Coach Fely Fajardo so that after his graduation he would be part of the Mariwasa main team. However Araneta was not able to play in the MICAA when it was supplanted by the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) in 1975 as the top-flight basketball league in the Philippines. He decided to focus on finishing his studies in UP over playing competitive basketball.

Football career

Collegiate

Araneta helped the football team of 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 200 ...

in winning three titles.

Club

Araneta won his first National League Championship title as part of the U-Tex football team. He then transferred to CDCP where he won another National League title. He later won six more titles for Philippine Air Force F.C.

International

Araneta played for the

from 1975 to 1985. He was part of the Philippine squad that played at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and 1983 Southeast Asian Games. In 1983, he also played in the Asian football qualifiers for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. On the 32nd minute of the second leg of the preliminary round against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he scored the solitary goal for the Philippines.

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

Coaching

He served as head coach of the Philippines at the 1993 Philippine International Football Cup which was hosted at the

Paglaum Stadium The Paglaum Sports Complex is a sports venue in Bacolod, Philippines adjacent to the Negros Occidental High School. It was established during the administration of Governor Alfredo Montelibano Jr. in the 1970s. It hosted three editions of the ...

Football administration

Following the ouster of Jose Mari Martinez as the President of the Philippine Football Federation on November 27, 2010, Araneta was designated as the interim president of the football body. Almost a year later, Araneta was elected as president on November 26, 2011, at a PFF congress held at the Astoria Plaza in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the ...

. He secured a second term in 2015. In February 2017, it was reported that Araneta was one of the then eight candidates vying for the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

's (AFC) four spots at the

. The four successful candidates were to be determined at the AFC Congress in May 2017 in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. Three posts were in contention for male candidates while a single post for female candidates. On May 8, 2017, Araneta along with Zhang Jian of China and

Chung Mong-gyu Chung Mong-gyu, born in Seoul in 1961, is one of South Korea's top business leaders and the chairman of HDC Group. He has been serving as the 53rd President of Korea Football Association (KFA), a title held for 2 consecutive terms since 2013. In ...

of South Korea secured their post by acclamation while Mahfuza Akhter Kiron of Bangladesh secured the sole FIFA Council slot in contention for women. On November 29, 2019, Araneta won a third term as PFF President in the elections held during the 16th PFF Congress. He was challenged by Negros Occidental Football Association President Ricky Yanson for the post. Araneta secured 23 votes from the PFF voting members in contrast to Yanson's 12. During his presidency, the Philippines men's national team qualified for the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

, the country's first major tournament participation in men's football. The Philippines women's national team, meanwhile, 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 ...

in January 2022, the first time the country qualified for a FIFA World Cup of any gender. The women's team also won the

2022 AFF Women's Championship The 2022 AFF Women's Championship was the 12th edition of the AFF Women's Championship, an international women's football tournament organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 3 to ...

, the Philippines' first major title in senior international football. On February 2, 2023, the AFC re-elected Araneta to another four-year term as a representative of the confederation in the FIFA Council.

Other sports

Mariano served as the chef de mission of the Philippine delegation for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, the country's most successful performance at the tournament with weightlifter

Hidilyn Diaz Hidilyn Francisco Diaz-Naranjo (; born February 20, 1991) is a Filipino World and Olympic champion weightlifter and airwoman, the first Filipino to ever win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines. She is also an Olympic weightlifting reco ...

winning the country's first-ever

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Araneta, Mariano Filipino footballers Filipino men's basketball players Philippines men's international footballers Philippine Air Force F.C. players UP Fighting Maroons basketball players University Athletic Association of the Philippines men's footballers People from Iloilo Araneta family FIFA officials Presidents of the Philippine Football Federation Hiligaynon people Men's association football players not categorized by position Filipino sports executives and administrators 1954 births Living people