PFF Smart National Club Championship - Monday
Group A.
Loyola 2-2 Kaya
23 mins 0-1 Bedic (Kaya)
24 mins 1-1 Hartmann (Loyola)
36 min 2-1 Phil Younghusband (Loyola)
65 mins 2-2 Bedic (Kaya)
Ceres 1-0 Laos
1-0 Reichelt (Ceres)
Standings :
Loyola 7 points
Ceres 6 points
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Kaya 4 points
Laos 0 points
Loyola and Ceres to semifinals on Thursday
FIFA Ranking - November 2024 - Sneak Peek
2 days ago
Loyola has 7 points. Win va Ceres and Laos amd draw against Kaya.
ReplyDeleteThanks, corrected..
DeleteFair Play: Provincial FAs should insist--limit UFL participation in Smart Cup
ReplyDeleteHOW would you feel if the five reinforcements you’ve spent for are declared ineligible two days before your first game?
If you want to wring somebody’s neck, burn down an office or pull out of the tournament, then you’d have to be impressed at the relative calm with which UC Erco is taking this latest setback in its bid in the Philippine Football Federation Smart Cup.
Told by the PFF that they are free to add five players for the national finals, they added five from the Green Archers, Chiefy Caligdong and Cebuano Paolo Pascual included.
Of course, that was with the team’s blessing.
No problem, right?
Apparently, someone did because an entity that was supposed to be a non-factor in the national club tournament of the Philippines--the UFL--thumbed down the move, citing a groundrules in the UFL that once the teams name their rosters, players aren’t allowed to play in PFF-tournaments in the NCR, provided it’s with their mother club.
And did I point out the UFL season has yet to start and their are six UFL teams in the Smart Club Championships?
Keith Buyco, the “B” in BRO, almost had a second heart attack learning of the ruling.
Rodney Orale, a Cebu Football Association, up to now, still can’t understand the rule, which basically threatened Caligdong et. al. from a season-long ban had they played for Cebu. Coach Glen Ramos is nonplussed, confident the remaining players can still get the job done.
I’m shocked and disappointed for BRO, knowing the things the team had to go through.
Shocked, too, how a UFL decision in a PFF tournament can derail them.
Heck, up until we were talking yesterday, Engr. Orale has yet to be given a copy of the UFL decision or the copy of the ground rules. Even the Green Archers management was set to meet with the UFL to clarify such rule because they were caught by surprise.
If that’s how they play, then let’s play the game their way.
As it stands, the PFF Smart Club--which costs about P10 million a year for P8 years--is a waste of money. Why? Look at the teams, why bother pretend to go along with the eliminations only to have a lineup stacked with Manila teams of the UFL?
It’s unfair for non-UFL teams too, because teams in the league have two options to qualify, one through the UFL and two, through whatever FA it can latch itself to.
Enough of that. Cebu and the rest of the Fas that don’t have UFL teams should unite and demand the PFF curtail the UFL’s power. Why give them three and the rest only one per region? Why give their members two chances and the rest only one through the qualifiers?
My suggestion? Limit the UFL to only three representatives—the previous season’s league and Cup champion, plus the Division 2 champion. Any UFL team—first division or second—that want to make it through the qualifiers must skip one season of the UFL because that’s basically what they threatened Caligdong et. al.
And to force the PFF as what the UFL did, Fas who are in the outside looking in should utilize their numbers and refuse to host any Smart Club tournament. Should the PFF insist, then the Fas should insist too that the PFF provide the funds upfront—for the field preparation down to the happy ending massage in Mabolo—before the teams even leave their homefields.
I remember when Pato Gregorio of Smart made the announcement in Cebu back in 2011 regarding the telecom giant’s P80 million over 10 years aid to the PFF for a men’s tournament. We even broke that story.
In hindsight, instead of getting giddy, and knowing how Cebu got screwed in the Smart Cup, we should just have said, “You can go shove that stupid Smart Club up your...”
Sun.Star Sports
How Cebu got screwed in the PFF Smart Cup (AKA, who's afraid of Chieffy Caligdong?)
ReplyDeleteCEBUANO Keith Buyco, one of the owners of the Erco BRO team in the PFF Smart Club, is a heart attack survivor. He told another reporter that he almost had another one when they learned two days before the tournament that their UFL imports wouldn't be allowed to play in the PFF Smart Club.
Because that's how they felt. Cheated. A victim of behind-the-scenes power play from teams who are either afraid of Chieffy Caligdong or hate the fact that a Cebu team can loan a bunch of UFL players.
Buyco, the "B" behind BRO, had everything cleared with the PFF and of course GAU Animo, and they received the OK to field the five. And this being a PFF organized tournament, the PFF should have the final say right?
Apparently not. Engr. Rodney Orale learned some of the UFL teams protested the presence of UFL players in their lineup and quicker than you could say "What the efff," a decision came out two days ago turning down Chieffy's and the rest of the Green Archers United players' stint with Cebu, even if the team management already gave the OK. The move even surprised the Green Archers, that I heard one of the team management is seeking an audience with the UFL to clarify this rule that even surprised them.
And, if I may add, months after paying lip service to Chieffy's international retirement, and promoting memes of him, the UFL is telling Chieffy, if you want to play for Cebu, go sit out the next season will you!
It's obvious that this rule isn't meant to protect the UFL or its interests from injuries because you have SIX freakin' UFL clubs in the PFF Smart Club. What then can you make of this rule?
Poor Erco, poor Cebu. The CFA and the team followed the rules of the PFF, holding local eliminations, changing the team composition to satisfy the five-foreigner rule only to be shortchanged by a boardroom when they got to Manila.
If that's the way they play, then two can play the game, because right now there should be changes on how the PFF organizes the Smart Club championship.
Right now, the PFF Smart Club is fixed in such a way that only a UFL team can win it.
Consider this: teams outside the UFL only have the qualifiers to get in; UFL teams have two options to get in; one through the UFL and one through the qualifiers.
Is that fair?
In the next board meeting, I hope the Cebu Football Association, along with other FA s from Visayas, Luzon and Mindanao that are not represented in the UFL, will initiate a move that will limit UFL teams to one option only in qualifying for the Smart Club.
If a UFL team wants to qualify, then it has to get one of the three spots designated for the league; it it wants to join the qualifiers, then it shouldn't be allowed to join the UFL for the preceeding season. Basically the spirit of the rule they are using to prevent the Chieffy from playing for Cebu.
The UFL wanted to flaunt its authority in a PFF tournament, let's see how they feel if the favor is returned.
If not, then the PFF should drop all pretenses and call the Smart Club as it is, a UFL pre-season tournament and hold a different tournament for non-UFL teams.
And oh, whil they are still deliberating, Fas like Cebu who got screwed in the PFF Smart Cup, should stop hosting ANY PFF Smart Club tournaments unless the rules are revised. The PFF loved to hold it here in Cebu because the FA has the logistics to spend for it, only to screw the CFA in the end.
No changes. No hosting. If the PFF insists, let them pay for everything, down-to-the happy ending massage in Mabolo.
I remember when Pato Gregorio of Smart made the announcement in Cebu regarding the telecom giant's P80 million over 10 years aid for the PFF for men's tournament. We even broke the story.
In hindsight, instead of getting giddy, Cebu should have said, "You can go shove that stupid Smart Club up your ass."
Sunstar
In my opinion this is not a problem of the UFL but a problem of the PFF for not making the rules clear. This tournament has NEVER had the same qualifying conditions in a row, as if it were a giant free for all. The PFF has to make things more transparent and when they find a set of rules, then they should stick to them!
Deleteagain, again....it seems PFF is the one halting the further development of football in the Philippines. too much politics...too much biases....too much inconsistency...DISORGANIZED.
ReplyDeleteDid Tahj Minniecon play?
ReplyDeleteNo , he he did not play and was not in the squad
Deletekung nananalo kaya kayo lalabas kaya tong article na to? ang dami niyong sinisisi sa talo niyo, ufl, pff, etc.!! ang stallions (iloilo FA), ceres (bacolod FA), laos (leyte FA) kasali sa qualifiers. sisihin niyo team niyo kayo umalis ng UFL kaya di kayo makahanap ng quality players na local pati foreigners, tapos hihiram kayo ng players na alam niyo magging risk niyan. tanggapin niyo talo niyo move on
ReplyDeleteIts always the officiating that sucks. UFL, NCAA, UAAP are all victims of bad officiating. No blood, no foul for the ruthless referees. I wonder if they are being treated with this kind when they were younger or maybe their children and children's children will love to inherit this kind of mentality.
ReplyDelete