By Nick Giongco
Nonong Araneta, chief of mission to the Tokyo Olympics and head of Philippine Football Federation, hopes to follow the footprints of Germany and Italy in the hope of resuming football activities in the country.
“We are looking at July,” said Araneta, noting that the PFF will study what European countries are planning to do.
“We will try to learn from them, get tips on how to do it,” said Araneta, stressing that Bundesliga (Germany) and Serie A (Italy) are priming up for their much-awaited return this month.
For national athletes, he expects less activities with the entire world forecasted to be still battling the coronavirus pandemic.
And with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yet to issue an advisory about the resumption of qualifying tournaments, Araneta sees no major events are taking place within the year.
“I think we’re done for the rest of the year and the qualifying events will begin in January until June (next year),” said Araneta after reviewing the latest correspondence from the IOC.
The rescheduled Tokyo Games will now take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 after the organizers and the IOC gave in to the pressure of COVID-19.
However, next year’s Olympics remain in doubt when a Japanese medical expert said two weeks ago that proceeding with it is not realistic without a vaccine.
But a senior IOC official quickly thumbed down the idea, saying a vaccine is not necessarily needed to go on with the Olympics and that guidelines from the World Health Organization will be more than enough safety measure.