No Azkals in Asian Games as PFF not even bothering to nominate team to Incheon

From Reuben Terrado

THERE will be no Philippine football team in the 2014 Asian Games.

Dr. Jay Adalem, a member of the joint Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission Task Force, said the Philippine Football Federation didn’t submit any entries during several rounds of meetings with national sports associations (NSAs).

That prompted the Task Force not to submit a football team in the entry by numbers list of the Philippine team to the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee (IAGOC) recently, he added.

“They did not contact us,” Adalem told Spin.ph. “We have been calling them every now and then. Siguro they have no team and they also have to meet the criteria.”

Earlier, the Task Force announced that team sports must pass its criteria of ‘Top 5’ in Asia before the September 19-October 4 Asiad.

“Wala namang hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon. We were very fair,” said Adalem, one of the deputies of Asian Games chief of mission and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Ritchie Garcia.

Last year, the Under-23 Azkals were not able to compete in the Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar after failing to pass the criteria of "sure or potential gold medal bets."

The Philippine U23 team missing the SEA Games came despite the Azkals being ranked as the top Southeast Asian country based on Fifa rankings last year.

spin.ph

U23 Azkals, Malditas required to show worth for Asian Games

By Marc Anthony Reyes
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines –The Azkals’ under-23 team and the Malditas have to prove they deserve berths in the Philippine contingent to the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, this September.

Dr. Ernest Jay Adalem of Samahang Basketbol Pilipinas, a member of the joint Philippine Sports Commission-Philippine Olympic Committee Task Force, said the two football squads have until July to compete in Asian-level events and make the criteria for inclusion to the Asian Games delegation.

“We have been instructed by Asiad chef de mission [and PSC chair] Richie Garcia to implement the criteria strictly,” said Adalem after the Task Force completed its first round of talks with national sports associations hoping to field entries to the continental meet.

Adalem, who is deputy CDM along with triathlon’s Tom Carrasco and lawn tennis’ Romeo Magat, said the criteria set is gold medal in the last SEA Games, top five ranking in Asia or top 20 in the world.

He said the submission of entries by name will be in August, giving Asiad hopefuls enough time to meet the criteria.

In measurable sports, the selection is easier because the athletes’ personal best can be compared with Asian Games and Asian Championship levels.

Adalem, the SBP treasurer, is in charge of team sports cluster that includes basketball, rugby and softball, which are shoo-ins due to their previous achievements in the international competition.

He said each NSA was given time to present its case to the Task Force, which had been meeting every day the past two weeks.

The teams that underwent screening included women’s handball. Off-hand, he said the Amigas, third placers in the recent SEA championships, have very slim chances of making it.

Read more: http://sports.inquirer.net/145160/u23-azkals-malditas-required-to-show-worth-for-asian-games#ixzz2tElNuGnJ

Azkals, Malditas offered Asiad berths

By Olmin Leyba

MANILA, Philippines - The Asian Games Task Torce of the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission will give the U-23 Azkals and the Malditas “provisional slots” in the Team Phl delegation to this year’s Asiad in Incheon, South Korea.

But POC chairman and task force member Tom Carrasco reiterated that the stints of the U-23 Azkals and Malditas will be subject to the result of the qualifying tournaments that both will go through prior to the quadrennial games in Incheon, Korea.

Carrasco and other members of the the task force met with PFF general secretary Ed Gastanes and Malditas coach Ernie Nierras yesterday and told them the U-23 Azkals and Malditas will be given their chance to join the contingent.

“They said they will seek to qualify so we’ll wait for the results. If they make it, we see no problem in approving their stints as qualifiers,” Carrasco told The STAR. “In the meantime, they can submit pools of players for Team Phl.”

According to the PFF, there’s still no advisory from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as to the details of the Asian Games qualification rounds. Usually, qualifiers are held two or three months before the actual tourney, with only 12 or 16 berths to be awarded.

Carrasco also took the opportunity to laud the PFF’s decision to prepare its U-20/U-21 team for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games as early as now.

“I welcome their move. That’s the right way to do it, start the program early instead of hastily putting up a team and fielding it to battle immediately. Football is on the right track and we hope other NSAs (National Sports Associations) will follow their lead,” the POC exec said.

The PFF had said it would skip the 2015 SEA Games and instead focus the training of its U-20/U-21 side under Australian Jim Fraser for the 2017 edition in Malaysia.

philstar

Azkals are shoo-in – Richie

INCHEON ASIAN GAMES
by NICK GIONGCO

Led by the fabled Gilas-Pilipinas basketball team, the Philippines stands to send “a sizable delegation” to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Fresh from attending a meeting between chiefs of mission of all 45 countries comprising the Olympic Council of Asia last week, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richie Garcia said Gilas-Pilipinas is a shoo-in to the Asian Games on the strength of its runner-up finish in the FIBA-Asia held in Manila last August.

The Incheon Games is set Sept. 19 until Oct. 4 and Garcia stressed that aside from the 12-man cage squad, poised to strut its stuff is an equally-celebrated team, the 21-man Philippine Azkals.

“Since there is no age requirement in the Asian Games as it is open to all players, we will field the Azkals in the Asian Games so they can test their skills and gauge their competence among the top Asian teams,” said Garcia.

The PSC had slammed the door on the participation of an under-23 team that was assembled by the Philippine Football Federation for the Myanmar Southeast Asian Games since the PSC believed that it wasn’t capable of making it to the medal podium.

The Azkals, comprised mainly of players from Europe with Filipino lineage, have been rising in the FIFA rankings the past few years and are now at 133rd.

Even its female counterparts, the Malditas, might end up getting a berth to Inchoen if they make waves in Myanmar.

Garcia said the Korean hosts have impressed all the delegates with its showcase of brand-new venues and the construction of the main stadium is nearing completion.

“I can say that the venues are 80 percent complete,” said Garcia.

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