Newly-elected Philippine Football Federation president John Gutierrez vowed to make sweeping changes in the country's football program with the ultimate goal of developing talents local talents to be good enough to play on the men's and women's national teams.
"We will make some evaluations on how to improve the way the national teams are faring," Gutierrez said during a press conference held Friday. "We will bring in a new technical group to assist and further give insights to how we feel we can give further support. It's not just about the national teams per se. It's about how to support them and make it more sustainable. So all the way from grassroots, youth development, all the way to the younger national teams. We're going to see with our panel of experts how we can further improve."
Ultimately, Gutierrez envisions Azkals and Filipinas lineups that won't be too reliant on players from abroad.
"First, let's make one thing clear. Filipinos are Filipinos. Regardless of how much Filipino blood they have in them," Gutierrez said. "I think the real issue is not the percentage of blood in the players representing our country. I think the issue is those representing our country are not being developed locally. By the end of my term, I wish to have closed the gap between how the Philippines develops its talent against the rest of the world."
"The only reason our national team players are better than local talents is because of the kind of training, the kind of development that is afforded to them. The kind of exposure. And in my administration, that is the gap that we are planning to bridge. Players developed outside the country are only better than us because of the resources that they get. ... It's because here in the Philippines, we cannot afford them the same opportunities they get in other countries."
Gutierrez also recognized the need to strengthen the country's professional league, which has struggled of late in terms of exposure and television coverage.
"With the PFL (Philippines Football League), we're looking more on the marketing side to help those teams be more competitive. ... We need a bigger budget to be able to get better training, better development for the players that will eventually lead that league."
Gutierrez will also focus on getting better training for the country's football coaches.
"When we talk about development, when we talk about training methods, when we talk about programs, it doesn't just fall on the players themselves. Who are going to teach these players to get to that level? The coaches. And the blind cannot lead the blind. So, we will have to get these coaches, referees, match commissioners, all officials in football, up to speed on the new training methods, the new way of playing the game."
As for the Azkals' short-term goals, Gutierrez said it will be better to stick with the pool that was fielded during the recent FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
"I think the squad that we have now should be the squad that we use for the qualifiers (in March). I don't think it will make any sense for us to replace them and force the issue on locally developed talents. Maybe we add one or two local talents, but again, it will be up to the coach."
Gutierrez, who is the head of Bukidnon FA, soundly defeated Davao South FA President Henry Sabate and Stallion FC Laguna team owner Fil Alquiros in the PFF election held last week. He was elected to a four-year term.
Araneta was president of the PFF from 2011 until last week when Gutierrez was elected. Under his administration, the men's national team reached unprecedented heights in terms of both popularity and FIFA ranking, while the women's team achieved a historic milestone be qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup. He also, with help from FIFA, established several youth programs around the country to grow the sport at the grassroots level.
Araneta will now concentrate on his role as FIA Council Member and AFF Vice President until 2027.