The International Football Federation recently pledged to help the Philippine Football Federation in its advocacy to help grow the sport.

The assurance was made by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and newly-elected PFF president John Gutierrez in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when they met during the FIFA Club World Cup.

In a social media post, Infantino said he and Gutierrez talked about plans to help the sport in the Philippines.

"I was pleased to meet Philippine Football Federation president John Gutierrez in Jeddah to discuss plans for talent development in his country and congratulate him on his recent election," Infantino said, referring to Infantino's entry into the PFF last month.

"FIFA will keep working with everyone in this country to spread the joy of our beautiful game to girls and boys at all levels in the Philippines."

The Philippines recently jumped to No. 38 in the FIFA women's rankings, its best standing ever.

Gutierrez said he wants to bring the game closer to each regional football association and get the players in tune with what the other nations are doing.

"When we talk about development, it doesn't just fall on the players themselves. The blind cannot lead the blind so we will have to get these coaches, referees, match commissioners and all these officials up to speed on the new way of playing the game," Guttierez said.

"In the beginning, we will rely on foreign help with regards to the training and programs set up but in any eventuality, we will have our Filipino coaches at the same level so that they can guide our players to what we are trying to achieve."