Fair Play: Third time's the charm for the CFA?

A WEEK from today, the Cebu Football Association will hold its general elections, and I hope whoever gets elected will get the support of the community, no matter whatever faction they belong.

The CFA held such promise the last time it had an election, mirroring the promising start of the board before them.

But, despite the promising start, the last two admins fizzled because of disagreements, infighting and those other stuff that seem to plague sports bodies. 

The CFA pretty much mirrors the previous two admins of the PFF, which was rocked by so much infighting that folks went to court because of their disagreements.  There were a lot of political plays, too, to get the president booted out.

But look at the PFF now!

It used to be, the only folks who you will hear say, �the PFF is doing its job� are the PFF president and its lackeys.

Now? Heck sometimes I have to shake my head every time I comment or tweet �the PFF knows its thing� because it does, though, there are disagreements, sometimes, on how they do about things, generally, this PFF admin is head and shoulders above the rest.

Which is what I want to see in the next CFA admin.  It will never get 100 percent backing of the community because such target is impossible.  I simply wish that they got the support they need.

We could pore through why the previous board got to this but it�s useless and I hope the new board will treat its mandate with guarded optimism and look at how when the outgoing BOD members got elected, they started as close buddies who share the same passion.

Aside from that, I hope the new BOD would continue the programs started by Richard Montayre�s administration, like the province-wide grassroots program.

You can say all you want about the present board but I think the province-wide program, something no other FA seems to have done, is one that deserves to be continued no matter who sits on the board or who started it.

There are going to be a couple of tricky issues the new board will tackle�the referees and the Springdale ban�and I hope they get to deal with it in a way that they won�t face the same criticisms of bias and favoritism the outgoing one faced.

I hope, too, the referees who stayed with the CFA during the split won�t be purged and be replaced by new loyalists because that would be a disastrous start.
Those who become CFA referees should be based on merit, not loyalty.

To most fans, the referees are the face of an association. They don�t much about the policies, goals and programs, but when they see referees making crazy calls, they�d say, �Wa�y ayo gyud ning CFA.�

As to the Springdale issue, that�s going to be a tricky one. Though there is an ongoing appeal, this is going to be a unique case because the three-year ban will occurs during an admin change.

Will the new board readily dismiss the ban?

I hope not.  There has to be a process, and if needed, sanctions, too.

Cebu football is at a crossroads, because of the changes in the football landscape, the new board should take advantage of it and promote the sport.

Because of its location and the facilities here, Dan Palami said he hopes Cebu can be a major player in the Philippine football scene. He even plans to bring a few Azkals matches here, but he can�t do that if the football community is fractured.

Next week is chance for a fresh start.

I hope Cebu football does better this time.

After two forgettable admins plagued by infighting, the PFF is now united under Nonong Araneta and I hope the third time�s the charm for Cebu for the CFA.
(www.cebufootball.blogspot.com)