FC Meralco makes surprise PFL exit
ONE of the founding teams in the Philippines Football League (PFL) would cease to exist when the next season unfurls as FC Meralco Manila decided to fold up.
In an announcement posted on its official Facebook account on Monday night that caught many football stakeholders by surprise, “The Sparks” said that due to “circumstances beyond our control,” including difficulty in finding new investors, the management of the team was left with no choice but to stop operations immediately and nix participation in the country’s first- ever national football league, which opened its debut season last year.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the club will be ceasing operations immediately and will no longer participate in the second season of the Philippines Football League,” opened the FC Meralco statement.
“Circumstances beyond our control have made it difficult for FC Meralco Manila to continue. The board and management of the Sparks have tried to arrange for new investors that would keep the organization running, but those efforts have sadly fallen short,” it continued.
FC Meralco was one of the pioneering teams of the PFL along with seven other teams.
It performed well in the inaugural season, leading the standings for much of the time before being edged out by Global Cebu FC in the semifinals and settling for third place.
Ceres-Negros FC was crowned the first-ever PFL champion.
The Sparks, which also paraded their wares in the United Football League that the PFL supplanted, thanked their fans and sponsors, particularly Jollibee and Mizuno, as well as the City of Manila which was their home in the PFL.
They went on to say that they are trying their best to find their players new clubs to play for even as they encouraged fans to continue to support the league and football in general.
“The management of the team is currently in the process of searching for new teams for our players. These amazing athletes and people deserve to continue plying their trade, and we will do all in our power to find them new clubs,” the statement read.
Adding, “The club also encourages all Sparks fans to keep on supporting the league and Philippine football as a whole.”
As of this writing, the PFL and Philippine Football Federation, one of the proponents of the league, have yet to issue a statement or reaction to FC Meralco’s decision to exit.
CONCERNED REACTION
As expected, a lot of concerned reaction from fans and observers greeted FC Meralco’s decision, touching on how it was a sad day for Philippine football and how it could be a blow to the just-starting PFL.
“It’s definitely a big blow to the PFL. Meralco is probably the biggest corporation which put up a team in the league. Them pulling out might discourage other companies to put up a franchise or current teams to pull out as well,” shared local football writer and observer Lorenzo Del Carmen when asked by BusinessWorld for his thoughts on the unexpected turn of events.
But Mr. Del Carmen, who writes for local site Tiebreaker Times, is still hopefully that the PFL could use this episode to better the league across the board as well as current teams and future ones to learn from it to really come in prepared.
“Well there are still seven teams in the PFL so I still feel the league will still thrive for next season. I think that the PFL must step up its game in terms of media coverage to show corporations that having a franchise will be worth the money. Better coverage such as TV and online livestream will help the league reach out to more fans,” Mr. Del Carmen said.
“It should also open eyes about the costs of running a PFL team. Not only the salaries of the players and coaches should be looked at but also the costs of logistics since PFL clubs travel nationwide,” he added.