PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez drums up support for the holding of the FIFA Futsal Women World Cup here in Cebu during his visit on Monday at the City Hall. CDN Digital photo by Jay Baa/UP Cebu Intern
CEBU CITY, Philippines — An official from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) visited Cebu City Hall on Monday, June 24, to ask for support from the city government for the first-ever Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Futsal Women World Cup.
PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez, who went to the Cebu city hall on Monday, said that the event would be expected to happen in November 2025 in a suitable football field and facilities in Cebu City.
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This is the first ever edition award for hosting, in which the Philippines won the bid, beating six other countries such as Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
Winning the bid became a milestone for the PFF to obtain such trust from the FIFA council to host this historic first-ever Futsal Women’s World Cup event, where women from all over the world are clamoring for this dream, unlike the men’s event, which has been established for 35 years already.
“Pinagkatiwala sa atin ng FIFA, matagal nang hinahanap ng women futsal players around the world ma magkaroon ng world cup at ngayon it’s become a reality. Napaka-swerte nating mga Pilipino na nabiyayaan tayo nitong napakalaking proyekto na i-host yung world cup dito sa Pilipinas,” said Gutierrez.
(FIFA has trusted us this, women futsal players around the world have long wanted to have a world cup and not it has become a reality. We, Filipinos, are lucky to be given this big project to host the world cup here in the Philippines.)
He also said that the selling point in gaining the award to host the world cup over the six other countries was the healthy football community, facility-wise and the diversity of the Philippine teams.
“Well, I think that’s the healthy football community that we have, the trajectory in which our women’s futsal is going. And of course FIFA is always looking at diversity in any form across the world to every nation,” he added.
According to Gutierrez, part of their preparations is to talk to local officials regarding the extended support of one of the biggest sports events around the world, along with the started auditing done by the PFF officials last week where they extensively looked forward for the suitable facilities such as the training and game venues in Cebu.
There will be 16 countries, including the Philippines, which already qualified to the tournament for being the host country, that will compete in the FIFA Women Futsal World Cup.
Moreover, aside from this exciting big sports event, Gutierrez also told the media that they would promote the grass roots of the PFF program called Football Starts at Home in the entire Philippines which would aim to culturalize or to expose to culture football for young children and parents as a primary sport alongside basketball and volleyball.
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Cebu’s ready to host FIFA World Cup
Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said in a press briefing on Monday that the city was no longer afraid or hesitant to accept the offer to host the world cup.
He said that they would be very ready and prepared to accept it, while still waiting for the letter of intent to be formalized.
“Of course we are always ready. Bag-o ra gane ta nag CVIRAA, ‘nya, hopefully, masuccessful sad ni atong Palaro. So, of course, this is another level, higher, because this is an international event. So this is something nga kinahanglan gihapon ta moprepare so di ta mahadlok ani kay na-anad na ta ani nga dinagko na sports activities diri sa Cebu CIty,” he said.
(Of course, we are always ready. We have just recently held the CVIRAA, and then, hopefully, our Palaro will also be successful. So, of course, this is another level, higher, because this is an international event. So this is something that we also need to prepare so we are no longer afraid to host this event because we already are used to holding big sports events here in Cebu City.)
He also mentioned that they were still looking for a suitable football field around Cebu City, as FIFA had promised to spend a budget on it. The cost of artificial grass alone will be from P25 million to P30 million.
“We are looking for a suitable football field here sa Cebu nga kanang makaingon kag pareparehas sa kanang naas Talisay, so we will kay mingingon man sad ang FIFA nga they are willing to spend for a football field. All we need is an area which we can identify sa Cebu City Government nga kanang dako,” Garcia said.
(We are looking for a suitable football field here in Cebu City that we can say can compare to that one there in Talisay, so we will because FIFA has also assured that they are willing to spend for a football field. All we need is an area which the Cebu City government can identify, a really big area.)
The inclusion of Cebu City, along with Manila as a metropolitan area, eyed by FIFA to hold some of their games, such as the semifinals and even the finals, brought pride to the city for being acknowledged by such major sports organizers in the world.
Meanwhile, Garcia said that since everything was still premature and the event would still be next year, they had to wait for FIFA’s official letter before they could start the ball rolling with this big sporting event that would take place in the city.