Araneta bares UFL plans

Araneta bares UFL plans

MANILA, Philippines – UFL chairman Santi Araneta said yesterday elevating the quality of play in the country’s premier football league through the influx of foreign players is a positive step towards the development of a competitive national team and disclosed plans of upgrading the club ranks with an all-merit system employed in Europe.

Araneta, 39, also owns Kaya F. C. and is the chief executive officer of LBC, a major sponsor of Manny Pacquiao, Ronda Pilipinas, the UFL and soon, the Ironman 70.3. “By far, it would be more gratifying to see the UFL grow than for Kaya to win the championship,” said Araneta. “Three years ago, a group of friends and football fans put up the UFL, hoping to revitalize the sport in our country. It was an alliance built on unity. Then, the Azkals phenomenon came along and all of a sudden, football was back in the spotlight. Today, I notice 80 percent of the fans watching football here are female and only 20 percent male while it’s the reverse in Europe. We’re grateful to the Azkals for what they’ve done for the sport but we in the UFL believe we can do our share to sustain the interest in football.”

The UFL’s founding fathers are Araneta, Philip and Chris Hagedorn, Lorenzo Roxas, Monchu Garcia, Javi Mantecon, Mike Camahort and Antonio Longga. They persevered in the infancy stage with 16 clubs competing in the inaugural season. Last October, the UFL inked a five-year P150 Million contract with ABC-5 for exclusive telecast rights and 28 squads showed up for the Cup tournament before seeding 10 in the First Division and 12 in the Second. The league’s third season started last Jan. 14.

“Our TV contract gives us stability,” said Araneta. “We use the money to pay for our operating costs and whatever is left, we allocate to the clubs. Our goal is for every club to turn a profit although we know it’s more like cutting back on losses. Still, the amounts aren’t that large for a team to be unable to absorb. They’re reasonable amounts. When we organized the UFL, we felt it was time for us to jumpstart the growth of the sport we love.”

Araneta said the key to success in the UFL is to avoid commercialization. “The idea is to build team loyalty,” he explained. “If you identify a club with a product, you don’t know how fans will take to the brand.  You wouldn’t want to brand Manny Pacquiao, for instance. You’d want to promote Manny as Manny, our Filipino world boxing champion. But we welcome league sponsors to put their ads on TV, print and stadiums. We need sponsors to keep us growing, like an outfitter for our referees, a watch brand for our time-keeping, Gatorade for our players and others.”

Araneta said the UFL and the Azkals programs are complementary. “I’ve spoken with Dan (Palami) who owns a UFL club and manages the Azkals,” he said. “We realize we’ve got to be coordinated. There are about 400 players in the UFL and we provide playing opportunities for the Azkals. Unfortunately, many of the Azkals matches are not FIFA-sanctioned because of our world ranking and that’s why it’s difficult to get our Fil-foreigners released from their mother clubs abroad. With the UFL, players like Angel Guirado and Carli de Murga now get a chance to live here. We’re also hoping to invite Fil-foreign Azkals to play in the UFL during their offseason. We want the UFL to build a pool of talent for the Azkals and that’s why we’re determined to elevate the quality of play. The Azkals are our national team, it’s not a club, which means we get the best from the UFL and eligible Fil-foreigners from all over the world to play for the country when there is an opportunity.”

Araneta said what’s perking up interest in the UFL is its competitive balance. “The other night, Kaya was pushed to the limit in beating Philippine Navy, 2-1, when we were supposedly heavily favored to win,” he said. “Our captain Ali (Borromeo) won’t be able to start practicing until late March but we’re not hurrying him up. He’s an Azkals icon and we want him to be ready when he’s fully recovered from his ACL injury. It’s his second ACL injury but on the other knee so if it’s true that your knees become bionic after ACL surgery, Ali will come back with two bionic knees.”

Araneta said employing an all-merit system like in the UEFA to join the UFL implies discipline and the value of hard work. “We won’t allow a group to create a team made up of stars and enter the league just like that,” he said. “Sure, an investor can buy into an existing First Division club but to bring a new team in, you start in the Second Division and work your way up. Take the case of Queen City of Cebu. We found out there was a group of businessmen spending about P10 to P15 Million a year just to keep football alive in Cebu. So we invited them to compete in the UFL’s Second Division at less cost. Now, they fly in players from Cebu, spending about P180,000 a week, to play in the UFL. At the moment, we elevate the first place club in the Second Division to the First and demote the last place club in the First to the Second after every season. But we’re thinking of staging a round-robin tournament among the second to the last placer in the First Division and the top two finishers in the Second to determine which team plays in the First Division next season.”

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