Big night for football

In a show of force, over 400 soccer enthusiasts packed the Manila Pavilion Hotel ballroom recently to celebrate the dawn of a fresh era under newly-elected Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Johnny Romualdez.

The PFF raised about P800,000 as ticket-paying guests were treated to a nine-course Chinese lauriat dinner and a raffle which gave away prizes from Adidas, Toby’s, Cebu Pacific and Shoemart.

The affair marked the launch of the "PFF Football Night," envisioned to be an annual event to honor the outstanding players and patrons of the sport. A highlight was the induction of Romualdez as PFF president, succeeding Rene Adad, by Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit.

Romualdez pointed to the huge turnout as an indication that interest in football remains high in the country and vowed to relive the glory days in the sport. He said football is the only sport where Pinoys, Chinoys, Tisoys and expatriates get together for the love of the game in an atmosphere of friendly competition, unity and fun.

International Olympic Committee representative to the Philippines Frank Elizalde, German Embassy cultural attaché Henning Janson, Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Miguel Barredo, Adidas marketing manager Goody Custodio and Coca-Cola Export Corp. director of public affairs J. B. Baylon were among the special guests who attended the event.

Former Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) referee and Asian Football Federation (AFF) vice president Fernando Alvarez flew in from San Francisco to receive a special award for his contributions to the sport. In 1973, he became the only Asian and one of eight in the world to receive a Special Referee award from FIFA. Alvarez, 82, came with his wife and daughter.

Former national star Miguel Crame also planed in from the US and accepted an award as an outstanding player of