BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Bleachers' Brew #229 Another red card for Philippine Football

This appears in my column in the October 4, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.

Another red card for Philippine Football

by rick olivares

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) receives $250,000 every year from Fifa. That translates into roughly P12,000,000. That makes is the second most moneyed National Sports Agency following the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. Yet in terms of progress, it is one of the worst. Progress is slow, the results are disappointing, and unity is nonexistent. The various football associations hardly get along and are suspicious of one another’s motives.

Said an old-timer in the local football scene, “Before Fifa began to give money no one wanted to get involved. When the money started coming in, everyone wanted in.”

The money sent by Fifa is supposed to be used for a national tournament, coaches and grassroots training, disbursement to the member associations for various projects, and quite a few more. Once the budgets are drawn up for national and regional projects, it is supposed to be taken up by the Board of Governors for approval.

But like in this republic of dangerous minds, that has not been the case in recent years. Nothing has gone to the football associations for years now. There is no national tournament. The men’s and women’s national teams are funded by the managers. Instead, the money has been used to increase the PFF’s assets by investing money with persons not associated with football and hiring the marketing services of a group that delivered nothing. Instead, the money has been used and misused.

One football association has had enough. The Cebu Football Federation behind its officers Richard Montayre and Dick Emperado (FA president of Dumaguete), filed a case against PFF president Jose Mari Martinez for falsification of documents last month.

In a meeting with Montayre two months ago, he disclosed how he was surprised to come across a notarized document dated November 28, 2009, that stated that any two of the following three persons—PFF president Jose Mari Martinez, PFF treasurer Antonio Marty and PFF managing consultant Henry Tsai—were authorized signatories to the NSA’s corporate account with Banco de Oro.

Montayre and Emperado were both present in the meeting but the issue of adding a third signatory—Tsai’s—was never taken up.

And in another document prepared by then “acting general secretary” Ramon Manuel sent to the bank dated June 19, 2010, it mentioned a new board resolution that stated only Martinez and Marty could authorize the movement of the PFF funds. Coincidentally, around that time, the word filtering from the offices of the PFF in Pasig City about a falling out between Martinez and Tsai.

Montayre contends that there was no such board meeting. And furthermore, asked Montayre, “Who is Henry Tsai? No one knows him in the local football scene. So how could he have been a member of the board?”

I managed to secure the mobile-phone number and tried getting in touch with Mr. Tsai and his wife but received no reply. I tried calling again and it was his brother, Peter, who picked up and said he did not know anything about Tsai’s involvement with the PFF. While also surfing the Internet for any information about Tsai, I came across some disturbing information (blog.henrytsai.com) that, of course, may or may not be true.

During a board meeting on September 25, Martinez shed light on Tsai’s “appointment.” “I had to find a solution to Mr. Marty leaving for abroad and the solution was to get Tsai. But before Tsai could be a signatory, he had to fulfill 4 criteria he set... first, as a manager of the Futsal team, second, as a fallback since the PFF always lacked money before the end of the year; thirdly, to rent the ground floor for P40,000 a month; and fourthly, to sell football products.”

And this begs even more questions. Why did Martinez require Tsai to fulfill four requirements to be able to be a signatory to PFF checks? What’s in it for Tsai? And what interests does Martinez have?

Martinez was stripped of his right to authorize transactions from the BDO account.

In that meeting, the Naga FA’s Atty. Anlu Carpio questioned Tsai’s appointment without board approval.

I was able to secure a PFF memorandum dated June 15, four days before the document sent to the bank that excluded Tsai from being an authorized signatory to the savings account. The memo was from Tsai and it had him listed as “Executive Vice President of the PFF” and the subject matter was regarding “overtime, weekends, and holiday access to the PFF building.”

While asking other local football officials about Tsai’s appointment, they expressed surprise and anger. “We knew no such thing about his appointment or involvement in the federation,” said National Capital Region FA president Pocholo Borromeo.

The PFF’s House of Football in Pasig was built through the Fifa Goal Project that helps in the creation of technical centers or headquarters where the NSA can effectively run its operations. It is technically Fifa property and cannot be used for anything else, at least not without permission from Fifa.

A check of the expenses of the PFF in the past year showed, among others, a disbursement of some money to the Pagadian Football Association, an honorarium to the Board Treasurer (Marty), expenses for the PFF Futsal Cup, and some other football-related matters.

On the other hand, it also revealed some curious entries: payment for Bayantel numbers not used by the PFF, sliced cheese bought from Martinez, SM appliances and car expenses, Valle Verde Country Club shares bought and enjoyed by its three signatories (Martinez, Tsai and Gerry Ledonio, marketing head) and “investments” by Tsai.

There are also numerous particulars for payments for credit cards and loans.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

7 comments:

  1. terrible....the sad thing about all of these, the players are penalized...the development of the game is hampered...and the president thinks he didnt do anything wrong...he holds on to his posts, thinking he could still get away with it....and continues his scrupulous ways by pretending to host international youth teams for the devt of women's football, when in fact he just plans to make money out of it, by bloating the budgets, getting apiece of the hotel, security and bus arrangements...

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  2. no wonder the coach's payment coming from the aid27 of fifa, were delayed and the coaches were shortchanged...
    you should ask some of the coaches under the aid27....they sign their payment details...with some inconsistencies...for example purposes, in their payslip, the amount would be P15k, but their actual take home would be less than that...not due to the taxation law from the Phil govt but due to the taxation law from the PFF govt or i would call it the Mari/tsai govt.... and what is more disturbing-indicated in their payslip, a statement saying that they willingly agree to the donation...tsk tsk..and if someone complains, the reimbursement officer would say " kunin mo na, kesa wala"...

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  3. It's a pity for football in the Philippines which invloves too much politicking. It's a dream for every football player of this country to have a professional tournament, but unfortunately it's not the talent and skills that we lack, it's the people running the Federation who maliciously taints the image of football in the Philippines to the whole world for their greed and selfishness.

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  4. Dear Mr. Olivares,
    Your column which expresses your concern for PFF is admirable. Voicing out your opinions and providing the venue for others to voice out as well gives the chance for both parties to come out with the truth. You have stated in your column about monetary disbursements made to Pagadian FA, let me first ask you to please check why there were or there was such disbursement before implicating the said organization. But, to save you the trouble, allow me to shed light on the matter & you may use it as a basis should you decide to investigate this disbursement. There was indeed money disbursed to Pagadian FA. it is not a secret for it is in the financial records of PFF. The money was released to Pagadian FA after it had complied with the requirements PFF had instructed the Pagadian FA to submit for the PFF Grassroots Program for provincial football associations. It is a fact that it was not only Pagadian FA that was given assistance but also other football associations who have complied with the requirements. These are all properly recorded in the PFF books. For grassroots programs, the main requirements needed for release of assistance are the team players birth certificate or SECPA, pictures of players and that there must be at least 8 teams with 15 players per team competing. There are memos sent to football associations to that effedt for compliance. Once all this have been satisfied assistance is released and the Pagadian FA have complied with all of its requirements set by PFF so as other football associations. Further, allow me to inform you that the assistance was only for referees honorarium. The Pagadian FA, as well other qualified football associations, had spend its own money as well to administer the grassroots programs such as venue preparations, honorariums of persons involved in the venue preparations, city/municipal permit for usage of the field, gasoline allocations for the logistics and many more... Thank you for this chance to comment on your column and further, provincial football associations are doing its best for football development, in fact, 75% of provincial football associations are doing better compared to big city football associations... I hope you can find the time to check the credibility of what I have posted here... It would really do us (provincial football associations) justice... Thanks again!

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  5. FIFA should become involved and put a stop to this. It's unfair to the world's football governing body.

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  6. I suggest we ask the Pagadian FA president why the PFF( Mari) has disbursed money to him/them? Is it really because of a well strategized intention to develop football? Or is it a strategy for keeping Mari in the post? Is it because of favors and votes? Recently, the Pagadian FA was supposed to be sent to a course abroad. What is the criteria of selecting him. What other football association have received money from the PFF? If there are any, you will see a pattern...votes, and kickbacks...meaning, PFF provides disburses after the FA submits to him docs, that way, it is legal...and yet, money or votes is exchanged under the table...If you notice in the PFF, there are two more FA presidents, working closely for him..board members...if you look at their qualifications, they are terrible...except that they have a say on board and congress..VOTE...one who is both a President and forever Gen sec of his FA and another who is a wolf in a Lamb's skin, who uses the bible to mask his true intentions and self...tanungin natin ulit yung Pagadian FA...ano ba talaga ang totoo?

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  7. Anonymous

    Aid 27 program is supposedly intended for the federation license coaches, a big help from AFC on each member associations in order to uplift the status of coaches and coaching in each countries, but sad to know that here in our country the coaches are not respected and not paid well they re taken for granted.

    All coaches were very happy,honored when they signed the aid 27 contract but in return most of them are not paid yet.... coaches have to beg in order to get their salaries...

    coaching in the province particularly in a club where majority of the players are low and middle class when it comes to status in the society, the coaches are the one giving money to the players for their transportation in going home and also buying foods and uniforms for their team... hope this bright people in PFF understand and had gone through this situation....

    AFC is celebrating the ASIAN COACHES YEAR 2010, Please PFF lets give honor and respect to our coaches, they work hard for the players they stay under the sun and rain, they woke up early and sleep late at night,they organize competitions, they travel with their team, they spend their own money for the team.....please give them what is due for them...

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