Ramos says she could have called off Azkals friendly

MANILA, Philippines – Match comissioner Cristy Ramos said she could have opted to call off the Philippine Azkals' friendly against the Malaysia Tigers last February 29 after two of the players disrespected her.

Ramos filed a sexual harassment charge against national team players Lexton Moy and Angel Guirado, after the two players allegedly made innuendos directed at her while she was conducting a pre-match check on the team.


In an interview with ABS-CBN's Dyan Castillejo, Ramos said it was within her authority as the match commissioner to cancel the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

"Maybe there could not have been a match that night. I could have refused to check them," she said. "I could have said, 'You are disrespectful to the match commissioner,' and I could have just walked away. There would not have been a match that night. I could have done that."

Ramos said that as match commissioner, she was the link to FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and thus has over-all authority during the match.

"I would have the perfect excuse to say, I refuse to check with the players," she said.

But Ramos opted not to cancel that game, saying she "looked at the bigger picture."

"I was being nice... I told myself, 'You have to rise above this for the meantime,"" Ramos said. "I looked at the bigger picture."

"There has been so much preparation for this team, the visitors came all the way from Malaysia, the spectators are already there," she added. "So it could have been a whole lot worse."

'Baby football'

Ramos has been a match commissioner since 2003 and has been an official in over 100 football matches, and she said this is the first time she has experienced this particular problem.


"This is Team A, and in football, when you are the A team, you are the senior national team. They're not 13 year old kids, they're not 5 year old kids," Ramos said. "They should be mature enough to know what is proper behavior."

Ramos said she expected a certain amount of "rowdy behavior and bantering" from the players, but added that there are "several codes of behavior which we would like to enforce, which we expect the players to follow."

"This is not baby soccer or baby football. This is A-team football. This is already the highest level for teams – this is the national senior team," she stressed.

When asked if she tried to get the Azkals to behave, Ramos said, "I don't even have to shout at them and say, 'Hey guys, be quiet.'"

"I just want to do my job as smoothly as possible," she added.

Against the law

Even though Ramos filed her complaint at the AFC, the PFF will have jurisdiction over the case and their disciplinary committee is already conducting an investigation, according to PFF president Mariano "Nonong" Araneta.

Ramos said the sanctions on Moy and Guirado will eventually depend on the findings of the PFF Disciplinary Committee.

But she emphasized that Moy and Guirado were not only being disrespectful – they were also violating a law.

"Under our laws, that is a criminal act. We have an Anti-Sexual Harassment law, Republic Act 7877. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Law from 1995," she said.

"I think what they have to realize is, it is sexual harassment... what Mr. Moy and Mr. Guirado did are violations of that law," Ramos added.

Ramos is hoping that she will not need to file a criminal case against the two players, saying she does not "want to let it reach that far."

Azkals team manager Dan Palami has already apologized to Ramos on behalf of the players.

"I accepted on principle, but it doesn't vindicate them or absolve them for the quote-unquote crime, or the wrongdoing," Ramos said.

"Let the investigations proceed. The Azkals have done wonders for Philippine football, but should we tolerate that bad behavior? It is a violation of my rights as a female, as a human being. Will that be swept under the rug?" she added.

She added the the Azkals should remember that they are considered as "idols" by the Filipino youth.

"They should serve as positive role models," Ramos said. – With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News