The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) has launched a probe regarding the financial status of Global Makati Football Club.
In a statement on Saturday, GAB gave the Philippines Football League (PFL) outfit 10 days to explain about the allegations by some of its players that they have not been receiving salaries for a long time already.
"To comply with the due process requirements, the board has conducted [an] investigation and thus issued a show cause order to the management of Global FC to explain its side in writing within 10 days from receipt of such order," GAB said.
A copy of the motu propio complaint GAB gave to Global Makati reads that if Team Manager Mark Jarvis fails to respond to the show cause order after the time frame, the club will be revoked of its license and may also be blacklisted by GAB.
The accusations of unpaid wages among Global Makati players have been heard through the grapevine since last year.
Anton Del Rosario, who last played for the club when it was still representing Cebu City in 2018, is among those who have been very vocal on calling out the management to give what is due them, claiming that at least 25 players including him have not received their supposed recent paychecks.
"They still owe me six months of pay, the other players maybe two years of pay," del Rosario, who founded Maharlika Manila, which is seeking to become a PFL expansion side, said on Thursday during the online Usapang Sports forum by the Tabloid Organization in Philippine Sports.
The motu propio complaint filed by GAB seemed to back up Del Rosario's claims as two players, Jorrel Aristorenas and Jerry Barbaso, are said to have been owed over PHP1 million worth of salaries.
Another Global Makati player, Paolo Salenga, is said to be owed nearly PHP600,000 as well by the team management.
The row within the club reached boiling point when its former graphics designer, Saya Jaruda, called the team out on social media regarding the unpaid wages which even affected his college schooling.
John Cofie, one of Global Makati's new signings, then dropped a huge revelation saying that he too has not yet gotten his first paycheck with the club.
Jaruda later said that Global Makati had already reached out to him and got his salary, but the team has yet to update if it has already settled its dues with its players.
Following a meeting with the PFL, Global Makati vowed to resolve its salary issues within a 10-day period which ended on Aug. 3, but no news has been heard about it since then.
The PFL could also revoke Global Makati's license for failing to comply within the time frame it set.
To make matters worse, the club shut down all its social media pages, further casting uncertainties on whether it will still participate in this year's PFL season.
Meanwhile, GAB reiterated its assurance that the professional athletes will be taken care of by the agency regarding their salary situation.
"As [the] agency tasked with regulating and supervising professional sports in the country, GAB shall ensure that the welfare of our professional athletes should be upheld at all times," GAB further said.
On the other hand, del Rosario hopes that the Global Makati players will get what should be due them.
"I just want justice for not even myself but for all the other players because... a lot of these players who committed their time and effort over the months, possibly years, didn't receive any wages during that time," he said. "I can't imagine the struggles they're going to now."*PNA
https://www.visayandailystar.com/2020/August/10/sportnews1.htm
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