The House Of Football

The House of Football stands at the corner of Danny Floro and Henry Javier Streets in Oranbo, Pasig City.

Built at a cost of Php 16 million through Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) Goal Project, it took almost a year to complete before it was formally inaugurated during the Philippine Football Federation’s Centenary Anniversary in December of 2008 by Joseph Blatter, President of football’s world governing body.

The stylish three-story headquarters designed by architect Baltazar Avelino is a stark contrast to all the buildings in the surrounding motel row that reveal nothing of the secret if not forbidden intimacy within; hence the closed doors, garage doors, and blackened windows.

The old PFF Headquarters was housed in the nearby Philsports Complex (Room 405 Building B) and had all the feel of a public school administration office. The grey paint on worktables chipped off. Videotapes of football matches piled atop one another without cases. The bathroom also doubled as a janitor’s stockroom. The headquarters resembled the state of football in the country – not enough support and in a state of disrepair.

The new swank digs have the look of a glass house that will not look out of place in chic Miami. There are dozens of oil paintings of football scenes including a huge one of Brazilian star Ronaldinho that line its walls. Along with the spaciousness of the offices, it gives the new offices a 21st Century cosmopolitan feel. More importantly, it signifies how serious the National Sports Association is with lifting up the state of the sport in a country where everything else is a distant second to basketball.

The House of Football is the only headquarters by any sport in the country that is housed outside a government building. Yet critics of the new PFF administration point out that the stately settings belie the rotting state of the beautiful game in the Philippines.