THE rebranded local club association Philippine Premier League proved to be a short-lived one after the Philippine Football Federation at the weekend decided to cut ties to it that effectively ended the league’s run after just one match day being played.
In a statement released on May 4, the PFF said with approval of its board it had come to a decision to terminate its agreement with PPL operator Triple CH Holdings Co. Ltd. “with immediate effect” and is reverting to the Philippines Football League which is scheduled to kick off in the middle of this month.
The PFF did not give further details as to the reason behind the termination of the agreement but reports have it that the football federation was not happy with the way things were panning out for the rebranded league across various fronts.
The federation said all concerned, including Triple CH Holding and its chairman Bernard Sumayao and the five licensed teams, namely Ceres Negros FC, Kaya FC-Iloilo, Stallion Laguna FC, Global Cebu FC and Green Archers United FC, were already notified of its decision.
Launched early this year, the PPL took over from the PFL, which run for two seasons.
The PPL, through Mr. Sumayao, vowed to jolt the local club football scene with, among others, quality staging of matches and presentation.
It, however, encountered some problems in the lead-up, including having some of the competing teams not able to secure the needed licenses to participate in its inaugural season.
The league was supposed to kick off on March 30 but was forced to reschedule it to April 27 to give the teams more time to work on the pertinent requirements.
It was dealt a major blow when on the eve of its kickoff, Stallion and Global Makati FC, teams that were expected to compete in the league, decided to withdraw over several issues and questioned the capacity of the operator to run the league.
The PPL nonetheless proceeded with its kickoff with Philippine Air Force and Mendiola FC 1991 fighting a 2-2 draw and Kaya emerging as a 3-0 winner over Green Archers United.
After opening day, the PPL released an announcement, dated May 2, that said “we would like to inform the public that due to circumstances beyond our control as of the moment we are constrained to not schedule any matches for this coming weekend.”
The PFF said for the return of the PFL further details will be given in the coming days. — MASM
