The news that Bohol will be a separate regional football association, thanks to the changes made during the last Philippine Football Federation congress, should have been a welcome development for the province. But instead, the news showed how problematic the football community in the province is.
Take for example the Bohol Football Association (Bofa), which has for years actively undermined efforts by the Central Visyas Football Association. It thought that it would be in charge of the new regional FA and one even posted a warning about clubs who registered with the “other group,” which is the CVFA.
That’s the root cause of the problem. There is no other group. There is only one group–the CVFA. And by choosing to refuse to recognize the authority of the CVFA, and by extension, the PFF, Bofa and its supporters have closed the doors on themselves.
The PFF wants to carve out a new RFA for Bohol from the CVFA, common sense dictates that the personalities and clubs who will run it will be from the CVFA. Giving Bofa a role in its formation is like rewarding defiant behavior, which shouldn’t be.
One of the leaders of Bofa posted in their page, after learning that the CVFA will be in charge of the formation of the new FA, that “football tournaments will continue with or without the new RFA.”
And this is where the PFF should step in and put an end to this petulance this early. Organizing tournaments outside the purview of the new RFA is a direct defiance of the PFF mandate. If the PFF fails to act on this, this will be a problem that will be raised anew four years from now.
Bofa’s open defiance went unpunished in the previous years and I think that has encouraged the former FA to continue defying the PFF. That should not be the case.
Members of Bofa think they are being excluded in the formation of the new RFA. That’s not the case really.
They excluded themselves.
That can be easily remedied of course. But that means swallowing their pride and registering as members of the CVFA.
And the question is: would their concern for their pride be bigger than their concern for Bohol football?