Mariano Araneta


Mariano V. Araneta, Jr. is a Filipino sports executive, businessman and retired footballer. Araneta formerly played for the Philippines national football team. He is the current President of the Philippine Football Federation and a member of the FIFA Council since May 2017.

Early life and education

Araneta was born on November 9, 1954 in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. He played for his town's team in province-wide football tournaments held during the summer and Christmas season during his childhood. For his high school studies, Araneta attended the University of the Philippines Iloilo. For his collegiate studies, he took up Civil Engineering at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines. He was a varsity player for both the university's basketball and football team.

Basketball career

Araneta played for the UP Fighting Maroons basketball team for three years in the 1970s. He played as a point guard due to his football background. He was offered to play for a farm team of Mariwasa, a team in the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association, by UP Coach Fely Fajardo so that after his graduation he would be part of the Mariwasa main team. However Araneta was not able to play in the MICAA when it was supplanted by the Philippine Basketball Association in 1975 as the top-flight basketball league in the Philippines. He decided to focus on finishing his studies in UP over playing competitive basketball.

Football career

Collegiate

Araneta helped the football team of the University of the Philippines in winning three titles.

Club

Araneta won his first National League Championship title as part of the U-Tex football team. He then transferred to CDCP where he won another National League title. He later won six more titles for Philippine Air Force F.C..

International

Araneta played for the Philippines national football team from 1975 to 1985. He was part of the Philippine squad that played at the 1977 and 1983 Southeast Asian Games. In 1983, he also played in the Asian football qualifiers for the 1984 Summer Olympics. On the 32nd minute of the second leg of the preliminary round against Japan, he scored the solitary goal for the Philippines.

International goals

DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
7 September 1983National Stadium, Tokyo
1–4
1–10
1984 Football Olympic Tournament - Asian Qualification
15 August 1984Senayan Sports Stadium, Jakarta
Unknown
1–7
1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Coaching

He served as head coach of the Philippines at the 1993 Philippine International Football Cup which was hosted at the Paglaum Stadium.

Football administration

Following the ouster of Jose Mari Martinez as the President of the Philippine Football Federation on November 27, 2010, Araneta was designated as the interim president of the football body. Almost a year later, Araneta was elected as President on November 26, 2011 at a PFF congress held at the Astoria Plaza in Pasig. He secured a second term in 2015.
In February 2017, it was reported that Araneta is one of the then eight candidates vying for the Asian Football Confederation's four spots at the FIFA Council. The four successful candidates are to be determined at the AFC Congress in May 2017 in Bahrain. Three posts were in contention for male candidates while a single post for female candidates.
On May 8, 2017, Araneta along with Zhang Jian of China and Chung Mong-gyu of South Korea secured their post by acclamation while Mahfuza Akhter Kiron of Bangladesh secured the sole FIFA Council slot in contention for women.
On November 29, 2019, Araneta won a third term as PFF President in the elections held during the 16th PFF Congress. He was challenged by Negros Occidental Football Association President Ricky Yanson for the post. Araneta secured 23 votes from the PFF voting members in constrast to Yanson's 12.