Mariano Araneta is a former footballer who represented the Philippines national football team during the 1970s and ‘80s. These days, he is the President of the Philippine Football Federation, taking the role in 2010, and on May 2017 was elected to the FIFA Council at the AFC Congress in Bahrain. Deputy Chairman of the AFC’s Development Committee, Araneta, who also played basketball to a high standard, has served on both FIFA’s Member Association Committee and its Beach Soccer Committee.