The Philippine Football Federation has green lighted the return of competitive women’s football in the form of the PFF Women’s Cup which will be held from 05 November until 17 December 2022 at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.
The Women’s Cup will be the first PFF-sanctioned women’s football competition since the PFF Women’s League was last conducted in 2019-2020 right before the onset of the pandemic.
Owing to the successes of the Philippine Women’s National Team in the international front having qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 and the championship win in the AFF Women’s Championship, the Women’s Cup will serve as the breeding ground of the next batch of players that will be selected for the national pool of the Filipinas.
PFF president Mariano Araneta, Jr. and general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes highlighted the importance of a sustainable women’s competition for the growth of women’s football in the country.
“The PFF Women’s Cup is the restart of healthy competition among women’s football teams here in the Philippines,” said Araneta.
“The success of the Filipinas means that we must continue developing players for the national team, and the PFF Women’s Cup is one of the avenues to hone promising and up and coming players.”
“It is the right time to relaunch our Women’s football competition through the PFF Women’s Cup,” added Gastanes. “Our women’s teams have long been yearning to have a competitive tournament brought on by the success of the Filipinas, and with the staging of the cup, the teams are raring to go not only to support the Women’s National Team but more importantly to help reinvigorate women’s football in the country.”
The competition will see eight (8) participating teams compete in a single-round robin elimination stage with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stages.
Among the participating teams are: PFF Member Clubs in Kaya FC-Iloilo and Stallion Laguna FC, four University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) schools in Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas, and PFF invited clubs in Tuloy FC and Azurri FC.
Matches will be played every Saturday and Sunday, with midweek games to be played every Wednesday. Live-streaming will be available on the PFF Facebook and YouTube channels.