By Klyde Manansala
THIS December, Filipino football fans are set to receive an early treat as they can finally witness live broadcast games of the best European football clubs on free television via ABS-CBN Sports and Action.
ABS-CBN Integrated Sports partnered with Hong Kong-based holding company Triple CH to bring to the country the most-watched premier football leagues—La Liga, English Premier League, and UEFA Champions League, where football greats like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo shine.
“The time has come to let the excitement and the bigness of the game of football that has taken the world like a giant tsumani, to come to the shores of the Philippines,” Head of ABS-CBN Integrated Sports Dino Laurena said.
With this new development, Triple CH Chairman Bernard Sumayao, a Filipino football fan himself who have resided in Thailand in the last 30 years, shared his dreams about the state of the football in the Philippines.
“I always had this dream that one day in my mind I would like to see football getting closer in the popularity of basketball,” Sumayao said.
Fortunately, ABS-CBN Sports Integrated has expressed its full support of Sumayao’s advocacy by distributing the programs and projects they are set to do in the coming years.
“It’s not much for business, for me it’s personal. I needed to find the most ideal and strategic. I thought that ABS-CBN, with all the resources it has and what it can do, I don’t want to be partner with anyone else except them,” Sumayao said.
The partnership will further upheave the two organizations’ common advocacy: To promote sports development in the country and of Filipino athletes, especially in football.
“If you want to develop the sport [football], the first and most important thing is awareness. Let them watch it live, let them feel the intensity of the sport,” Sumayao said.
Furthermore, the two organizations are planning to venture on more projects in support of Philippine football.
“Whatever it takes, we will try to our best to make it happen. Football is a game of money. We are prepared to make certain commitments to assist from the grassroots level all the way to the national team,” Sumayao expressed.