The Philippine Premier League (PPL) was a short-lived top-flight
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 ...
league in the Philippines sanctioned by 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). It was intended as a successor league to 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 Footb ...
(PFL) which ran for two seasons. The first and only PPL season had a single match day on April 27, 2019 before it was folded, after the PFF withdrew its sanction of the league.
History
Foundation
The Philippines Football League (PFL), the precursor of the PPL, was established in 2016 as a league with a national scope
as opposed to the
United Football League which was concentrated in
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
.
The PFL had two seasons from 2017 to 2018 which were both won by
Ceres–Negros F.C.
United City Football Club is a Filipino professional football club based in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, that competes in Philippines Football League (PFL), the top-tier league of football in the Philippines. From 2012 to 2020, the club was ...
However, issues plagued the league and it was decided that the PFL would be scrapped.
The PFL followed a
home-and-away format which caused financial and logistical problems for the league's participating clubs.
The PFL saw
Ilocos United and
Meralco Manila withdrawing from the league due to financial reasons. The league itself lacked sponsorship, generated insufficient revenue, had limited attendance and television coverage.
Bernie Sumayao of the Triple CH Group entered into negotiations with Philippine Football Federation President
Mariano Araneta sometime in the latter half of 2018 to discuss about planned reforms regarding the system of the Philippines' top-flight football league.
Sumayao was later appointed as the commissioner of the upcoming Philippine Premier League which was to replace the PFL
and is to absorb the remaining clubs of the PFL. The PFL then saw the withdrawal of
Davao Aguilas F.C.
The Davao Aguilas Football Club (abbreviated as DAFC) is a Philippines, Filipino professional association football, football club based in the city of Tagum, Davao del Norte. From 2017 to 2018, the club has played in the Philippines Football Leag ...
by its owner Jefferson Cheng reportedly due to the PFF's decision to award Sumayao's group the organization of the league despite's Cheng's volunteering to do the same.
The PPL, sometimes described as a rebranded PFL,
replaced it
and was described as a "new neutral independent league" which has an objective to develop football in the Philippines, according to its commissioner Bernie Sumayao.
"Philippine Premier League" was among the proposed names mentioned in the Nielsen Study commissioned for the then-planned establishment of the PFL.
The official launch of the PPL was held on January 23, 2019 at the Fairmont Hotel in
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
.
At least 11 clubs expressed interest to join the league
with the organizers confirming on March 1, 2019 the participation of seven clubs for the inaugural season.
Launch and dissolution
The Philippine Premier League had several issues before the first match took place. The commencement of the league was delayed after the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) ruled two participants
Mendiola
Mendiola Street (simply known as "Mendiola") is a short thoroughfare in Manila, Philippines. The street is named after Enrique Mendiola, an educator, textbook author, and member of the first Board of Regents of the University of the Philipp ...
and
Philippine Air Force as ineligible to participate due to their licensing issues with the national football association.
The season's launch was moved to April 27 from March 31
so that the two clubs can resubmit relevant documents to settle their licensing issues.
In mid-April 2019, PFF President
Mariano Araneta expressed confidence that the league will push through despite the two club's licensing issues and noted that the two teams already appealed their case.
Stallion Laguna and
Global Makati withdrew from the league a day before the first match day due to loss of confidence to the league's organizers. In a joint conference they stated that the lack of professionalism, transparency and disagreement with the centralized format of the league as their reasons for their withdrawal.
The league commenced as scheduled on April 27, 2019 with changes in the opening fixtures. Philippine Air Force and Mendiola figured in a 2–2 draw despite both teams' licensing issues have not been settled yet, while Kaya-Iloilo had a 3–0 victory over Green Archers.
The withdrawal of the two teams caused a debate on social media regarding the status of the league. PPL Commissioner Bernie Sumayao has stated that they technically never joined the league since did not sign any participation agreement or pay the participation fee, but has expressed openness to have a discussion with relevant stakeholders. He also responded to accusation that the league organizers were never in contact with Stallion and Global Makati and stated that he had tasked league director Ritchie Gannaban reach out to them and find out what would it take for the two clubs to formally join the league. Sumayao also cited the fact that an AFC elite referee officiated the match between Kaya and Green Archers United as proof of the support of the PFF of the league.
The league organizers then announced on May 2 that there would be no fixtures scheduled for the then-upcoming weekend, and the PFF announced its board's decision to withdraw sanction of the PPL, effectively dissolving it on the following day. The decision was made reportedly due to "serious mismanagement" of the league, inability to secure a title sponsor, and allowing Mendiola and Philippine Air Force to play in defiance of the federation. The national football association also announced that it is also working with the license clubs to continue the Philippines Football League (PFL). The 2019 Philippines Football League was later successfully held.
Competition format
The PPL was planned to follow a triple round-robin format, or three legs with matches to be played on weekends. Each day was intended feature two ties.
This is opposed to the Philippine Football League (PFL) which used a home-and-away format.
The first leg of the inaugural season was held in
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
with the University of Makati Stadium strongly considered as the venue.
and there were plans to host matches in Cebu. A promotion and relegation system was planned for introduction in the second or third season.
Each leg was to feature centralized matches to be hosted in specific venues to minimize costs for the league's participating clubs. Side community events such as concerts, fairs, "activations", and other activities were also planned to be held alongside league matches as a fan engagement effort.
The domestic cup competition would have still been the
Copa Paulino Alcantara
The Copa Paulino Alcantara, also known as the PFL Cup, is an annual football tournament in Philippines, sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation. The cup's first iteration began on September 1, 2018. It replaced the PFF National Men's Clu ...
, which served as cup competition for the PFL.
2019 season
Clubs
The inaugural PPL season was initially announced to be participated by 7 clubs. However, two of them later withdrew and the five remaining clubs were:
*
Ceres-Negros
*
Green Archers United Globe
*
Kaya F.C.–Iloilo
Kaya Futbol Club–Iloilo (, also known as Una Kaya Futbol Club, Inc.,) is a Philippines, Filipino professional association football, football club based in Iloilo City. They play in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the highest tier of foo ...
*
Mendiola
Mendiola Street (simply known as "Mendiola") is a short thoroughfare in Manila, Philippines. The street is named after Enrique Mendiola, an educator, textbook author, and member of the first Board of Regents of the University of the Philipp ...
*
Philippine Air Force
Mendiola
Mendiola Street (simply known as "Mendiola") is a short thoroughfare in Manila, Philippines. The street is named after Enrique Mendiola, an educator, textbook author, and member of the first Board of Regents of the University of the Philipp ...
and
Philippine Air Force were announced as participants for the season by the league organizers but were ruled ineligible to participate due to their licensing issues with 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 ...
.
The league postponed the season's launch to April 27 so that the two clubs can resubmit their documents for licensing.
Stallion Laguna and
Global Makati withdrew from the league as a protest against its mismanagement.
Venue
Only the Rizal Memorial Stadium has hosted matches of the Philippine Premier League.
League table
Matches
The league's only season had two matches on April 27, 2019. Originally
Philippine Air Force was scheduled to play against
Kaya–Iloilo in the first match, while
Mendiola
Mendiola Street (simply known as "Mendiola") is a short thoroughfare in Manila, Philippines. The street is named after Enrique Mendiola, an educator, textbook author, and member of the first Board of Regents of the University of the Philipp ...
was set to play against
Green Archers United
Green Archers United Futbol Club, formerly known as Alabang Grins Futbol Club, was a Filipino professional association football club based in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The team last played in the 2019 season of the Philippines Football Le ...
.
However Philippine Air Force and Mendiola were denied professional license which led to the schedule being revamped which meant that the two faced each other in the league's first match
despite a directive of the Philippine Football Federation not to include the two teams in the league's fixtures.
The Philippine Premier League organizers announced on May 2, 2019 that there would be no fixtures for the following weekend due to "uncontrollable circumstances"
[ and the league was effectively folded after the PFF announced its withdrawal of league sanction the following day.]
Organization
The Philippine Premier League was sanctioned by 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) which authorized PPL Sports Group, Inc. to operate and promote the league. Bernie Sumayao of the Triple CH Group was the league commissioner.
Clubs of the PPL reportedly had to pay an annual registration fee which is described to be lower than the equivalent fee members of the Philippine Football League, which followed a franchise system, had to pay. Participating clubs reportedly to have 40 percent equity share in the PPL Sports Group's board.
Media coverage
ESPN5
One Sports (formerly ABC Sports from 2004 to 2008, Sports5 from 2011 to 2017 and ESPN5 from 2017 to 2020) is the sports division of TV5 Network, Inc. and jointly-operated with sister company Cignal TV. One Sports supplies and airs major spor ...
was the broadcast partner of the Philippine Premier League with matches to be broadcast on the 5 Plus channel. For the inaugural season around 23 matches were planned to be aired live on 5 Plus and highlights were to be featured in ESPN5's ''SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
''. Live streaming of matches was also being planned.
References
{{Authority control
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
Sports leagues established in 2018
Football leagues in the Philippines
2018 establishments in the Philippines
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
Sports leagues disestablished in 2019
2019 disestablishments in the Philippines
Philippines, PPL
Association football controversies
Sports scandals in the Philippines
Cancelled events in the Philippines