CVFA puts off inaugural beach soccer tournament due to COVID-19

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The raging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has foiled what would have been the first beach soccer tournament of the Central Visayas Football Association (CVFA).

Architect Josephril Partosa, who heads the Beach Soccer Committee of the CVFA, said that the one-time, big-time tournament would have been held this weekend, May 9 and 10, 2020 on a beach somewhere in the northern part of Cebu.

Partosa added that they had agreed to push through with the holding of the beach soccer tournament in their CVFA board meeting last March 13.

However, as the COVID-19 crisis continues, they have decided to call off the tournament altogether.

“Because of the recent pandemic and the lockdown that will last until May 15 in Cebu,” said Partosa of why they will no longer be holding the event.

Organizing a regular beach soccer tournament is one of the CVFA’s plans as it is required by the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body for football, and its local counterpart, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).

Beach Soccer, otherwise known as sand football, is a variation of football as it is played on the beach or some form of sand.

Helping Partosa in organizing the event would have been his deputy, Chad Songalia, and member David Glenn Sumalpong of Cebu Avengers FC.

They would have tapped six teams each for the men’s and women’s divisions to see action.

The CVFA actually had a big plan for introducing beach soccer in Cebu and Bohol.

The initial plan was to hold four elimination legs, one each in Cebu North, Cebu South, Cebu City and Bohol-Panglao starting last November 2019.

And the top two teams from each elimination would have advanced to the final round this month in Bohol.

The initial plans didn’t push through last year because Bohol was busy with its own sportsfest.

Then, the COVID-19 crisis caught up with the whole plan. /rcg