CEBUFA CHIEF: PFF, NCRFA FEUD COULD GET RP SUSPENDED

Courtesy of Sun Star Newspaper (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/)

Sunday, June 25, 2006 issue
by Mike Limpag, Staff Reporter

Cebu Football Association president Jonathan Maximo said the latest infighting between the National Capitol Region Football Association and the Philippine Football Federation could lead to the country’s suspension from the sport’s governing body, FIFA, a fate suffered by basketball, which got suspended by FIBA.

“I can’t remember the name of the country, but FIFA has suspended one member,” Maximo said.

The NCRFA asked the PFF to allow its team of accountants to check the business transactions of the organization and has also asked PFF president Johnny Romualdez to turn over the rein of the PFF to Rene Adad, the former president.

Revocation

The issued stemmed from the PFF’s revocation of its certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission last Nov. 3, 2003, three weeks before Romualdez was elected president. The revocation was discovered only last May and the NCRFA contested that because of the revocation Romualdez isn’t the legitimate president and is not authorized to act as PFF head.

A check with the FIFA website showed that it suspended the Yemen Football Association for violating Article 17 of the FIFA Statues last year.

Article 17 states: “A member’s bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association. A member’s statues shall provide for a procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment.

“Any member’s bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with the provisions of paragraph one, even on an interim basis, shall not be recognized by FIFA. Decisions passed by bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with paragraph one shall not be recognized by FIFA.”

If the PFF does get suspended by FIFA, Maximo said the Cebu Football Association will become just an ordinary sports group.

International tournaments

“We will lose the blessing or mandate to govern football in Cebu. Though we can still continue to hold tournaments, we can no longer join international tournaments,” said Maximo, who was named the head of delegation for the Philippine team, which had three Cebuanos, in the Under-14 Youth Festival in Malaysia last month.

To prevent the issue from getting out of hand, Maximo said he will initiate a move, in conjunction with the other football association presidents, to have the issue settled within the PFF, instead of in court.

The NCRFA plans to bring the issue to court as a last option.

“There should be a consensus with the other FAs because this is affecting everybody already, especially now that there are coming national tournaments and we are set to host the LG Cup in November. We should initiate moves to have an honest-to-goodness meeting between the two parties,” Maximo said. (ML)