Pacquiao, Yulo vie for Sportsman of the Year in 5th SPIA Asia

Sen. Manny Pacquiao is a candidate for Sportsman of the Year in the 5th Sports Industry Awards Asia. (AFP)

Aside from the 30th Southeast Asian Games which formally opens this Saturday at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, the Philippines is hosting another big sporting event.

Representatives from the LaLiga football tournament and some of its member clubs, including Valencia CF, RCD Mallorca and R. Valladolid CF, will take part in the 5th Sports Industry Awards (SPIA) Asia international conference on 2 and 3 December at the Grand Hyatt Manila in Taguig.

Prior to the SPIA event, chosen delegates will watch the SEA Games opening show, the first to be held indoors in the history of the biennial meet. They will also tour various venues and watch football matches.

The sports congress that will see 600 delegates and 60 international speakers come together to share knowledge and experiences about the latest trends in sports marketing, business strategy and international development.

The football industry will take centrestage, with LaLiga and its clubs once again to be showcased as role models, thanks to their successful growth and international strategies.

Maheta Molango, RCD Mallorca CEO; David Espinar, a key official at Real Valladolid; and Josep Borrell, Valencia CF’s commercial strategy coordinator, will offer insights into various international strategies undertaken by their clubs, future plans for the Asian continent, as well as their relationships with their global fans and partners.

A number of LaLiga Santander sides have an interest and ties with the continent through the presence of Asian players–Japanese playmaker Takefusa Kubo, who’s currently on loan at Mallorca; Valencia’s South Korean forward Kang-in Lee; and R. Valladolid FC as one of the first clubs to establish such a link after they signed Japanese striker Shoji Jo in 2000.

The institution will also be represented in the talks by Ivan Codina, LaLiga’s managing director for Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea and Australia; and Almudena Gomez, a LaLiga delegate in the Philippines. The pair is part of LaLiga’s comprehensive network of staff based across the globe.

The summit will conclude with the annual SPIA Asia Awards Gala, which recognizes celebrates excellence of the Asian sports industry. A total of 450 submission from 47 eligible countries have been received to recognize the top achievers in 25 award categories, including the “Best Asian Sportsman & Sportswoman of the Year” and the “Best Asian Sports Team” awards that will be given for the first time this year.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division world champion, and Carlos Yulo, the first Filipino world champion in gymnastics, are among the candidates for the Sportsman of the Year.

The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, also a Pacquiao initiative, will vie for the Best Youth Sport Development Program and Best Amateur Sports Event while Allianz-Philippine National Bank is entered in two categories: Best Sports CSR Initiative of the Year (Allianz Project Sanlahi) and Best Amateur Sports Event (Allianz Conquer Challenge).

LaLiga has been shortlisted in Asia Top 10 in the accolade for the “Best Influencer Marketing Campaign of the Year.”

The Rugby World Cup, FIBA World Cup, Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, AFF Suzuki Cup and the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi made the 2019 shortlist for the Best International Sporting Event.

LaLiga currently boasts three offices throughout Asia (Singapore, China and India) while a team of 12 delegates is based across the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Australia, among other territories.