Bigger Philamlife 7s Football League kicks off 5th season

Anton del Rosario (middle), Philam Llife 7s football league founder, during the press conference for the fifth season on Saturday. INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines—Philam Life 7s Football League is pulling out all the stops as it welcomes its fifth season on Saturday.

The seven-a-side football competition will kick off in five locations namely McKinley Stadium in Taguig, in Muntinlupa, Clark, Bacolod, and Davao on Saturday while the Iloilo leg is scheduled to open on Feb. 15.

A total of 80 teams will play in each game day with 24 in the men’s division, 10 in the women’s field, and 48 in the youth cluster.

League founder Anton del Rosario, a former defender for the Philippine Azkals, said expanding 7s Football has been the main priority for the tournament which led to the idea of holding opening matches across the three major islands of the country.

“One of the things we want to focus on was our expansion to these locations,” said del Rosario during a press conference Thursday at Belle and Dragon in Makati.

“We wanted to make sure that all of us are unified and working together. We sat down with each of the operators and got them all ready for the kick off this weekend.”

Batangas was initially set to join this weekend’s festivities but the organizers decided to push it back after the Taal Volcano eruption hampered the daily life in the province.