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.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The PFF Board Meeting of September 25, 2010

When I got home today, I found a CD on my desk. It was delivered anonymously but there was a note... "Pakinggan mo ito." I did and was waiting for the auto self-destruct but no chance. If you do give this a listen you're going to go, "WTF!" One thing I learned in advertising is, "If you can't sway them with logic dazzle them with bullshit." I figure that applies here. No sex just lies and audiotape. Lots of it. Ah, hell. Listen to it and weep.

20 comments:

  1. Hey Rick, can you summarize the conversation? The sound is really muffled.

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  2. Dude, maybe it's your speakers coz it works fine here and its clear. Its a small voice recorder that was used. You really have to try and listen well because there are no microphones.

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  3. the summary of it is martinez is GUILTY....AUDIO STATES EVIDENCES!!woooooo!wag na paabutin ang pagtanggal next month..now nalang!

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  4. Trisha Sison-PunsalanOctober 8, 2010 at 9:53 AM

    My daughter has been part of the national team (under 16) since she was 13. She is 15 now. She competed in malaysia 2 years ago in an AFC tournament and has been training ever since to compete in the tournament being played here in a few weeks.

    Since she was considered young when she went to malaysia, she did not play with the first 11 but my husband and i accompanied her anyway as part of the experience we felt she needed when her time came.

    Short of it-- The PFF told us just a week ago that FIFA came out with a ruling disallowing any player to compete twice in the under 16 bracket. Since this was a ruling given by FIFA, we accepted the ruling but with great disappointment. Suffice it to say my daughter's heart is completely broken. Her dream of playing in front of a home crowd where she would have been at her prime and the first 11, is gone forever.

    We consulted my dad ( who is a lawyer) and he says all rules that are penal in nature cannot be applied hindsight. They can only be applied after the ruling was made. So those 6 hard working 15 year olds who trained their butts off (pardon my french) for the past 2 years should have been allowed to play had the Phil. agency that was in charge fought harder for them.

    Apparently, some countries have cheated the ages of their players in this bracket. But instead of penalizing the cheaters, they penalize the honest ones. What else can i say.

    Randy T. Roxas for PFF President!!!!!

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  5. Ms. Trisha, thanks for your comment. I'd love to get in touch with you and talk about your experiences with the PFF at great length. My email is bleachersbrew@gmail.com. Thanks!

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  6. Trisha Sison-PunsalanOctober 8, 2010 at 11:10 AM

    The original team that my daughter belonged to has been training together for 2 years now. Because of the their "ineligibility", personally i would like to call a fiasco, we are now going to be represented by a team that has been formed a few weeks ago.

    Care to make any predictions of the outcome??

    P.S.

    Will email you in a bit.

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  7. There will be a lot more dirty and anomalies exposed in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

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  8. My friend who's been working her butt off with PFF for years now out of passion for football is almost at the verge of despair and hopelessness. So what she tells us about the greatest lie in PFF is supported by this recorded meeting. I have always liked football and been wondering why the sport never improved in the country...the answer is in this recorded meeting. If PFF is never cleared from corrupt presidents or officials like Mr. Martinez, then football in the country will remain stagnant, and the dream to be part of the world cup will stay forever as a dream.

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  9. Mrs. Punzalan,


    The 2011 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers rules and regulations based on AFC official documents have been approved by the AFC Executive Committee last May 2010 and came into force immediately.

    26. Eligibility of Players
    iv. She has not participated in a previous edition of the AFC U16 Championship (Qualification) or the AFC U16 Championship (Finals).

    http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/2010/afcu16w2011qreg.pdf

    Last November, 2008 the same rule was approved by the AFC Executive Committee and likewise came into force immediately.

    28. Eligibility of Players
    iv. She has not participated in a previous edition of the AFC U16 Championship (Qualification) or the AFC U16 Championship (Finals).

    http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/common/cms/afc/AFCWU16Reg.pdf


    Obviously the PFF failed to provide the national team manager/s with vital information --perhaps they did not read the rules of the competition thoroughly and that is why were not aware of it. It is very convenient for Martinez to put the blame on AFC or FIFA to escape blame.

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  10. PFF is bullshit! just look at the national team! theyre not filipino at all! theyre all RICH sucky football-playing foreigners who are just Filipino in writing so that they can play in a national team!

    make REAL Filipinos (and I MEAN FILIPINOS, not just NCR people) play and we can start winning! just check out the homeless world cup champions!

    kawawa naman those who train their butts off only to get cut 2 weeks before a competition because the RICH foreigners arrive!

    i wish the president appoints deserving people to the PFF!

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  11. we need to oust the president if we are to improve rp football...he's the main problem...thats all...

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  12. matagal nang linoloko ni mari ang football people ewan ko bakit nagayon lang lumabas ito. sumingaw din sa wakas...

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  13. matagal ng pinaglololoko ni mari ang football people...ewan ko kung bkit ngayon lang lumabas yan...

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  14. Why the hell is Mr.Martinez still clinging to his post??!...he confessed to all the greed and stupidity on this audio...

    i can't believe he even tried to justify buying a Toyota Fortuner, buying shares in Valle Verde Country Club for himself, Henry Tsai and Gerry Ledonio to enjoy, land titles purchased from a certain Marcos Ong, personal credit card bills all charged to the Federation, dubious transactions with a suspicious events company called G-World Inc. (allegedly belonging to his wife)... all without board approval...using PFF money donated by FIFA, intended for Football Development and programs...and at the end declared them as assets for the Federation....what a big fat JOKE!!!

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  15. The Toyota Fortuner belongs to Henry Tsai,placed under Mari's name for other reasons. Henry Tsai is still paying for it.

    The Nissan Cefiro Mr. Martinez and his wife is currently using belongs to Henry Tsai and is still under Henry Tsai's name, you can check with LTO.

    The reason why Mari turned on Henry and vice-versa was because of a bad deal that went wrong. The interest from the investments Mr. Martinez made to Henry Tsai,that was supposed to mature in 6 months, was already long overdue, and Mr.Tsai could not produce.

    In short, they double crossed each other. That's what you call friendship. 20 years of it.

    I was also involved in all these as Mr.Tsai made me his trusted assistant. He promised to give me a position wherein I can use my unique expertise, from my football club in the USA, that only very few skillful people can do. That was until Mr. Gerry Ledonio ruined our friendship and eventually my dreams too.

    Mr Tsai fired me because he could not sustain my professional fee. To this day Mr. Tsai and his loyal partner Mr.Gerry Ledonio still continues to fool people using his Rotary Club membership and his being a treasurer of the church in Green Meadows, and sadly even football, as a front,so gullible people like Mr. Martinez will trust him.

    I am an idiot I know, and I regret having been part of all these. I'm sorry Philippine Football.

    Bart Soriano(USA)

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  16. i beg to disagree with the comment regarding the composition of the current national team... while it is true that we have filipino-foreigners in the lineup,it is filled with homegrown talents as well.
    for the information of pinoy football fans as well, only filipino-foreigners who are competitively playing in the top divisions have been invited to suit up and contrary to the statement made, no local payers have been cut since the lineup was finalized last june. While i admire the intention, realistically, we still lack homegrown quality players for several reasons including lack of competitive leagues, etc. that is why, we have to seek reinforcement from filipinos who reside abroad and play in top level leagues. it is unfair as well to judge them and question their patriotism,get to know these guys and you will realize that there is pride in their hearts to play for Pilipinas. Lastly, the HWC wasn't won by the Philippines, we placed 25th and won a trophy. They certainly deserve our congratulations but it is a different format and should not be compared with the exploits of the national team.

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  17. 1. So where was the check and balance in this whole thing? Martinez and his ilk aren't some absolute divine beings that they could get away with it (but they did). The PFF constitution says that the CONGRESS is the highest body. What were the provincial FAs doing? What was the BOG doing this whole time? The blame lies in these parties as well as they have the power to keep the PFF president in line and correct the wrongdoings. The national teams being beaten to a pulp with double digit scores and no national PFF Open since Martinez took over are more than enough evidence of an ineffective and inefficient administration.
    2. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It is the responsibility of everyone involved to read, study and understand competition regulations and related documents like the laws of the game, more so that they are so readily available and downloadable in official websites (fifa.com and the-afc.com).
    3. With 92 million Filipinos in the country (and still growing as the Catholic Church is soooooo against population management), it is soooooo incredible that the PFF cannot produce home-grown talents. With all their history of genocide, war and the like, countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have chosen to develop their own home-grown native talents. It took time, but they did it and remain committed to developing their own native talents. I respect and recognize Fil-foreigners, but let's look in our own backyard first. Honestly speaking, what is the cost incurred for bringing in these Fil-foreigners vis-a-vis developing local talents? Sure you have to win, but has the RP team been winning with the Fil-foreigners? We haven't even gotten past the SEAGames and AFF levels with them playing in the RP team, so we might as well develop our own.

    KELAN PA TAYO MATUTUTO???!! WALANG MANLOLOKO KUNG WALANG MAGPAPALOKO!!!

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  18. I'd just like to say that next time you post a comment, please use your real name or else, I will not post them.

    Incidentally, that so-called comment by Bart Soriano isn't by the real Bart Soriano. Shame on you cowards. You might have a point but that's no call for not being man enough to stand by your comments.

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  19. As to the Eligibility Rules for U16, here is my take on it.
    1. The players who were disqualified played in the 2008 edition of the AFC U16.
    2. The Eligibility rule was voted and implemented in 2009. Why did AFC include past competitions and not just start from 2009 onwards?
    3. The PFF Technical Director (Aris Caslib) informed the U16 Managers of the U16 Rules last June 2010. Mr. Martinez assured us that he will be able to convince AFC to allow the 5 ineligible players to play, since they are still between the ages of 13-15yrs old. It was not until Oct 1, 2010 that we were informed by Mr. Martinez that the 5 players will not be allowed by AFC to play.
    4. We told Mr. Martinez in June July and Aug that if the 5 players cannot play it was our recommendation that the Philippines not participate in this years U16,or until we are able to train and prepare properly. The 5 players affected by this rule, have been training with the U16 and U19 squad since 2008. They were the core of the team.
    Not to take anything away from the current squad, but it is totally unfair that they were not given enough time to prepare. I feel bad for the Coaches also. This is the only reason we continue to support the U16.
    5. The PFF did not inform the U16 managers that AFC awarded the hosting to the Philippines last July2010.

    The pertinent questions should be:
    1. How come the PFF was not aware that such a rule was being implemented and voted on by AFC in 2009?
    2. What is the purpose of this eligibility rule?
    3. I was informed by the AFC U16 Match Com. that the AFC Women's COM voted on this in 2009.
    4. How come the PFF did not know this? Or they did but did not even bother to look into the rule before voting on it?
    5. Who represented the PFF during the voting of the eligibility rule.

    I am sure all these things will surface after the U16 tournament.

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  20. That's a lot of money...maawa naman kayo sa spirito ng futbol

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