The Central Visayas Football Association is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

football association. It works under the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

as a regional football association for the provinces of

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...

and

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and ...

. It was formed in 2016 when Cebu FA absorbed Bohol FA to form the regional football association.

History

As Cebu Football Association

Not after the 1940s, football was introduced in Cebu by foreigners who were mostly clergy, expatriates, and officers and crewmembers from visiting ships. No major league was organized but competitions during weekends or as part of school celebrations were organized. Matches were also organized when foreign ships dock, where the visiting team often composes of officers and crewmembers of the ship. Before the formation of the Cebu Football Association, former congressman and businessman William Chiongbian was instrumental to the development of football in Cebu. Chongbian, who played football during college formed the

William Lines Football Team William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

. The football team initially played matches within Cebu against local collegiate teams, seminarians, and visiting teams and later played outside Cebu such as in

Dumaguete Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; fil, Lungsod ng Dumaguete), is a 3rd income class component city and the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Western ...

and

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

which are considered as football strongholds in the country. Chongbian also encouraged the formation of other football teams such as the Casino Español, Hap Hing Hardware and United Hardware. The William Lines team eventually went to Manila to take part in competitions in the capital. However, due to issues in his shipping business forces Chongbian to disband the team. Rosendo Hernaez, a football player and engineer organized the Cebu Football Association on December 18, 1961. Hernaez was elected as the association's first president. The composition of the first Board of Directors were Gregorio Sodusta, Vice-president, Valentino Darunday, SVD, Treasurer, and Joaquin M. de Ubago SR, Secretary.

Establishment of the Central Visayas RFA

In January 2016, it was reported that the Cebu FA will be dissolved in line with the new regulations on football associations by the

and is to be absorbed into a regional football association. By mid-2016, Cebu FA was renamed as the Central Visayas Regional Football Association and absorbed PFF probationary member Bohol F.A. Despite the regional association's name,

Siquijor Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Siquijor; tl, Lalawigan ng Siquijor), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the municipality also named Siquij ...

which is part of the

Central Visayas Central Visayas ( ceb, Tunga-tungang Kabisay-an; tl, Gitnang Kabisayaan) is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. It consists of four provinces: (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor) and thr ...

administrative region is outside the organization's scope and formed a separate regional association with Negros Oriental.

Partnerships

The CVFA is partnered with the Aboitiz Group of Companies and helps the company organize the Aboitiz Cup. The federation is also partnered with the

Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. The Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) is a sports and academic association of 14 schools, colleges and universities in Cebu, Philippines. The CESAFI was established in 2001. History Before the creation of the CESAFI, there was al ...

(CESAFI) collegiate league.

References

External links