Jose Mari Martinez said yesterday he’s both happy and sad about his ouster as president of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) following a vote at the National Congress acting on a motion endorsed by the Board of Governors.
“I’m happy because now I know that all it takes is to pay off the representatives of the provincial associations for their votes but I’m sad because they did it in violation of the PFF Constitution and By-Laws,” said Martinez. “If it’s just a matter of money, that’s no problem. I was told the pay-off was only P50,000 to vote for my removal.”
Martinez said nobody can pin him down on accountability for the so-called missing funds amounting to about P2.8 million. “I dare anyone to take me to court,” he said. “If all they want is money, I can give it to them, anytime. When I want or need money, it’s there. Two weeks ago, I got a commitment for P2 million from my foreign sources. The first P1 million arrived and I used it to pay off obligations from the recent hosting of the under-16 ladies tournament. When I was told a budget of P150,000 was required for a tournament in Tagum, I gave my own money. But after what they did to me in the Congress, I got my money back.”
Martinez said his allies in FIFA, AFC (Asian Football Confederation) and AFF (Asian Football Federation) won’t take his ouster lightly.
“I’m definitely going to court,” said Martinez who attended the Congress at the PhilSports Audio-Visual Room last Saturday with two lawyers Arnold Perez and Voltaire de la Cruz. “I’m not worried. The vote they took was both amazing and shocking. One by one, I saw them voting me out. But the vote was illegal. For the Congress to call for a vote to remove the president, there must be an endorsement from the Board. A Board meeting was held a few hours before the Congress but it was not legal. You need a 30-day notice for a Board meeting. They forced a meeting at the PFF building. I was in my office in the same building but didn’t attend because there was no notice. They insisted on holding the meeting without my consent and brought up the motion but it couldn’t be lawful because it was an illegal meeting. We will bring this up in court because it was a clear violation of the PFF Constitution and By-Laws. This case isn’t over.”
Martinez said if necessary, he will call on his brother-in-law Tarsy Cruz, a top-notch lawyer from the Romulo, Mabanta, Buenaventura, Sayoc and De los Angeles group, to bring up the matter in court.
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As the saying goes: Sa sampung sinabi, labing-isa ang mali. This last minute-PR job will not save his credibility. He was sued in Pasig court... foreign sources pledged (if at all) to PFF and NOT to Martinez ... and the man is undoubtedly incoherent. He really thinks HE is the PFF. What chutzpah!
ReplyDeleteYour forgot to mention that he did not sell the Fortuner (though it may not have been his to sell) when he promised to do so. He agreed to resign, but did not. I can trust him only as far as I can throw a piano. Whatever happened to "palabra de honor"?
ReplyDeleteAFC and FIFA has its own rules to follow... whatever it takes it should be the rule of PFF. Mr. Martinez Credibility was destroyed and for sure it will not save him , this man did not hide it and he admits to it and meaning to pay it. Whatever the decision of AFC and FIFA regarding his case is based upon their own volition and no one can change that, not even the new president.
ReplyDeleteMartinez is completely nuts! Think of it this way -- if he goes back, how can he be a good manager if the people in the organization have no confidence in him? Time to move on.
ReplyDeleteThe guy is a crook.
The guy is an incompetent manager.
The guy is shameless.
The guy puts himself above the progress of footbal.
What would you do if you were caught in your own web of lies and schemes? Pawn it off as another persons idea, admit nothing, and say you did it all for the good of football and that others are envious so they took you out. To pull this off you either have some huge cohones or you've lost all your scruples. Verbally it was about football, but in reality, it was all about him.
ReplyDeletewhat a delusional crook of a clown
ReplyDeletewhy did he win the presidency of PFF then , when you know the person so well to be a potential crook, incompetent manager , shameless, delusional , scheming ... Blame the others that voted for him or maybe blame yourself if you did vote for him...Call him all the bad names as you can , what I know is he once represented Philippine Football Federation (PFF) in his own capability, just do not add insult to injury ... Why the anger... you did oust him right ? you should be happy...
ReplyDeleteFair point, but there is such a thing as accountability. Now consider this, the real insult and injury was to the PFF and the tens of thousands of filipino children spending time and money to play and pinning their aspirations on the game. What do you say to them?
ReplyDeletei believe that the board of governors held him accountable already and had spoken their minds by voting to oust him. But that should not be the end of it, because he should pay and is meaning to do so...what i am concerned about is that the amount to be disbursed to PFF is incomparable to the potential consequences on this matter base on AFC and FIFA future decision. What will happen? we do not know...what can we say to our own Filipino Football athletes , we also don't know...but I for one is so sorry that all this things happened. Our officials should sit down and resolve this matter for the sake of this children alone.
ReplyDeleteOf what consequences do you speak? Are there any precedents? What FIFA or AFC statutes or standing orders were violated in the 7th PFF Congress? The PFF congress acted to protect FIFA funds, did it not? It acted to protect AFC programs, did it not? So, why be concerned at all? Unless, you know something we don't so please, share.
ReplyDelete