Another dispute within the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has erupted following the removal of the national women’s futsal (indoor football) coach and the mass resignation of the team members.

“We’re looking for a tribunal where we can explain our side, but unfortunately the Philippine Football Federation doesn’t have one,” said national women’s futsal coach Emmanuel Batungbacal during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at Shakey’s UN Avenue Branch.

Batungbacal, who steered the women’s futsal squad to a surprising bronze medal finish in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, was sacked for sending the team to an international competition in New Zealand without the PFF’s sanction.

Based on documents presented by Batungbacal, the main reason given for his relief is the alleged misrepresentation of the national women’s futsal team. He is accused of sending an unsanctioned squad to the Vikings New Zealand Futsal Invitational.

The relief was based on the recommendation made by PFF Futsal Committee chairman Esmaeil Sedigh.

“It’s ironic because the PFF actually sanctioned us to represent the country in the New Zealand competition,” said Batungbacal, who presented to media a copy of the PFF document approving the team’s participation in the invitational tournament.

The document was signed by PFF General Secretary Pablito Araneta.

“We tried to talk to PFF… but during the meeting, kasama ‘yung president (Jose Mari Martinez), what he told me was, ‘Just put it in our pocket.’ [It's] As if nothing happened. How can we explain our side kung ‘yun mismong president ayaw kang pakinggan?,” said Batungbacal.

Resignation of RP futsal squad

The women’s futsal team came to Batungbacal’s defense by resigning en masse.

Team captain Maria Aurora Tanjangco said they repeatedly requested Martinez to have Sedigh explain his recommendation.

Martinez, however, reportedly sided with Sedigh and asked the team to “forget what happened”.

“Let it be clear that our mass resignation does not stem from the firing of Mr. Batungbacal but with the way you and Mr. Sedigh handled the situation, with obvious politicking, misrepresentations and outright lies,” the futsal team said in its resignation letter.

Tanjangco also claimed that Martinez insulted them for pursuing Batungbacal’s case.

“We were asking for clarification, and what happened? He ignored us, and he kept on reducing our efforts to a monetary value… Ang laging sagot niya sa amin, ‘Sumusweldo kayo ‘di ba (referring to athletes’ allowance)? Anong problema?’” she said.

‘It’s the license, not anything else’

Martinez, meanwhile, denied removing Batungbacal over the RP squad’s New Zealand stint but blamed it on the coach’s lack of credentials.

“We’re trying to put Philippine football in line with our long-term direction. But how can we do that by employing someone who is not licensed to coach?” claimed Martinez.

The PFF president also denied turning a deaf ear to the futsal squad’s complaint.

“In fact, we had a dialogue already,” said Martinez.

This is not the first time the PFF has been hounded with internal problems.

Last February, PFF technical director and long-time national coach Dr. Juan Cutillas resigned from his position over his dispute with Martinez.

Cutillas said he has totally lost confidence with Martinez’s leadership after the latter reportedly stripped the PFF committee heads of their authority.

“Together with my lack of confidence goes my lack of respect, following the lack of respect you have displayed towards me, my committee and other committee heads under you,” Cutillas said in his resignation letter.

Source : abs-cbnnews.com
Published : 10/3/2009

Bendigo’s best female futsal players have tested their skill against Victoria’s elite in a gala exhibition match.

The Football Federation Victoria under 19 youth women’s team and the BASL Futsal Vipers All-Stars clash took place on Monday at Flora Hill stadium.

With a host of national and state representative players in their squad, the BASL side hoped to be able to at least match it with their opponents.

But the FFV managed to win comfortably, dominating from the outset in the 60-minute showdown.

BASL coach Peter Richardson said despite the loss, the side had benefited enormously from the match.

“It was a fabulous experience, and really great of the FFV team to come up,” he said.

“They brought up a whole squad and really played it as a serious game, which was great because that’s what I was wanting.

“It was really a valuable experience for our girls.”

Richardson said his charges struggled against the bigger and more experienced FFV line-up, especially considering few of them had played futsal in recent weeks.

“We played the match over 20 minute thirds and our girls found it difficult to keep up to start with,” Richardson said.

“But in the final 20 minutes, I just told them that because we only had 20 minutes left, that I wanted to see them chase everything down, to not give them any space, and to see a Bendigo player right on them every time they had the ball.

“It was almost man-on-man, and we really started to improve and actually scored two or three goals in that last third while keeping them scoreless, which was quite a feat considering they’d scored 10 or 11 goals up until then.”

Richardson praised FFV staff that assisted with the day.

The staff, including Mark Torcaso, Ben Shelton, Jack Dugonjic, Dietmar Schaffner and Rod Salas were involved in coaching and refereeing the day.

Source : Bendigo Advertiser
By : Nino Bucci
Published : 11/3/2009

Former national women’s futsal team IROK Philippines is striking it out on their own as they join an international tournament in New Zealand this year.

Head coach Emmanuel Batungbacal said the team is currently raising funds to compete again at the Vikings Futsal Cup this August.

The team competed in last year’s tournament but placed at the bottom. They were able to beat host country New Zealand but lost closing games to stronger teams in Australia.

“But we’re bringing in lots of experience and some new players with us this time,” Batungbacal told INQUIRER.net via a telephone interview.

He expects teams from the United States and China to join the tournament this year.

Despite budget constraints, Batungbacal steered the former national team to a rousing bronze medal finish at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games.

Players however decided to quit the national team altogether after Batungbacal was sacked by Philippine Football Federation (PFF) chief Jose Mari Martinez.

Since then, the team has renamed itself the IROK Philippines Futsal Club and has been raising funds through sponsorships and other means to finance their trips abroad.

“We want to compete in other tournaments like the Five-A-Side in Australia but we have to take it one at a time because of limited funding,” Batungbacal said.

The team was earlier slated to compete at this year’s Asian Indoor Games. But it was not able to join because the tournament is sanctioned by the PFF.

Source : Inquirer.net
By : Lawrence Casiraya
Published : 10/3/2009

2009/10 FNSW Futsal Premier League – Coaches & Managers Expressions of Interest

Sydney Benfica Futsal Club, have recently won the FNSW Futsal Super League Club Championship and with it comes promotion to Australia’s elite Futsal competition, the FNSW Futsal Premier League. We are under no illusion, of the task at hand.

We are seeking expressions of interest for coaches and managers for the 2009/10 Futsal Premier League Season. These positions are volunteer positions and you will be required to undertake all Child Related checks, including attending a Working With Children Seminar.

Coaches must have a Futsal Level One accreditation or be willing to sit for their Futsal Level One course.

Positions are available for the following age groups and genders, which are subject to FNSW approval;

Boys: 12, 14, 16, Youth and Mens
Girls: 12, 14, 16 and Womens

Please complete the below form and email this along with your resume to lorenzo.daddona@benfica.com.au by the 17th April 2009.

Any enquiries may be directed to Lorenzo D’Addona on 0414 663 919.

Lorenzo D’Addona
Football Operations Manager

Expression of Interest Form (PDF)

Source : Sydney Benfica FC
Published : 10/3/2009

Football Federation Victoria is seeking applications for Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Team Managers for Victorian representative squads competing in the 2010 National Futsal Championships.

The 31st National Futsal Championships will be held in Canberra between 11 – 15 January 2010 and will be hosted by Capital Football in conjunction with Football Federation Australia.

The 16 State Squads for the 2010 National Futsal Championships are as follows:

Male Teams
Under 11
Under 12
Under 13
Under 14
Under 15
Under 16
Youth Men (U19)
Open Men

Female Teams
Under 11
Under 12
Under 13
Under 14
Under 15
Under 16
Youth Women (U19)
Open Women

Coach, Assistant Coach and Team Manager appointments will commence in April / May 2009 and will be subject to the 2009 FFV Coaching Selection process. (Document available for download below).

Basic remuneration is provided to cover expenses.

HOW TO APPLY? ( Download the following documents )
Coaching Staff Application Process (PDF)
Employment Application Form (DOC)

** Applications close at 5pm on Friday 10th April 2009

Click here to view more information regarding FFV Futsal.

Please do not hesitate to contact Anthony Grima should you require any further details.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : 9/3/2009

Futsal – 12th Australian Masters Games

Between 20th – 23rd February, Football Federation Victoria administered the Futsal component of the 12th Australian Masters Games held in Geelong.

Futsal was one of over 70 sports included in this year’s Games after Adelaide hosted the previous 10th and 11th Australian Masters Games, incorporating the inaugural Australasian Masters Games.

The tournament was a complete success with Cro-Adra taking out the Gold Medal for the A Division and Sohu United winning the B Division.

Queensland entry Weasel Wackers took out the Silver medal in the A Division whilst B.P.C took home the Bronze.

CBB FC from New South Wales came Runners Up in the B Division while Bayside Pirates secured third place.

Football Federation Victoria was also fortunate to have Honourable MP James Merlino Minister of Sport participate in the tournament. His team MP Allstars was made up of State and Federal Ministers of Parliament.

James Merlino was interviewed after the tournament and talked about the booming levels of participation in Futsal and Football and the need to cater for the demand to increase participation levels even further.

Football Federation Victoria would like to thank all teams, referees and volunteers from both Victoria and interstate who contributed to the success of the tournament!

Click here to view all Masters Games final results and standings!

 

Melbourne Futsal League

Australian Futsal Group claim inaugural Championship!

Australian Futsal Group clinched the inaugural Melbourne Futsal League Under 11 Boys and Under 13 Boys titles in the final round on Sunday 22nd February.

The Caroline Springs based club finished off the season in fine form with entertaining matches against Cobras Futsal Club, Victory Fives, Victorian Lions and Melbourne Reds.

Australian Futsal Group secured top spot in the Under 11 age group with a superb 8 wins from 12 matches in the competition. In the Under 13 competition, the club came a way with 40 points which was the result of 12 wins from an overall 18 games played.

Cobras Futsal Club finished second in both age categories.

On behalf of Football Federation Victoria and all clubs involved in the round, all players and officials paid their respects to those affected by the Victorian Bushfires by wearing black armbands and observing a one minute silence before the opening match.

Click here to view all Melbourne Futsal League results and standings.

 

Ashburton Futsal League – Summer Season

MA Lakers take out Summer title!

On Wednesday 25th February, MA Lakers took out the Division 1 title of the Ashburton Futsal League Summer season.

MA Lakers overcame an experienced Jets side by winning 10-4 in the Grand Final.

The Division 2 final was won by Borondoora Old Boys who defeated AD Ravens 5-4 in a match which came right down to the wire.

Click here to view Ashburton Futsal League final results.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : February 2009

NBFA Winter Season 2009 – Proposed times

MONDAY
Mens 1 – Curl Curl Community Centre
Mens 2/3 – Sydney Academy of Sport, Narrabeen

TUESDAY
Ladies 1 – Forest High School
Ladies 2 – Beacon Hill Memorial Hall

WEDNESDAY
Mens 4/5 – Sydney Academy of Sport, Narrabeen
Ladies 3 – Beacon Hill Memorial Hall
Open Mixed – Curl Curl Community Centre

THURSDAY
Mens 6 – Beacon Hill Memorial Hall
Open Mixed – Curl Curl Community Centre
Games times are 7:00pm, 7:45pm, 8:30pm & 9:15pm. Times will vary for each team throughout the competition.

Source : Northern Beaches Futsal
Published : 10/3/2009

Youth/Open Men Competition (from 16 years of age)

Commencing Sunday 19th of April 2008 from 6.00pm
The Gardens Recreation Centre
Corner of Kings Road and Martins Road, Parafield Gardens

• Futsal SA organised competition
• Full FIFA Rules of the Game
• Accredited Futsal Referees
• Great Size Futsal Court
• Great Viewing area and Full Facilities

May lead to being selected in future Open Men State Team to participate at Interstate Futsal Tournaments and National Futsal Championships

FEES: Team Nomination Free
$35 Player Registration (Includes Insurance and GST)
$50 match Fee per game

Team Nomination forms can be obtained from the Futsal SA Website: www.geocities.com/futsalsouthaustralia 
or from The Gardens Rec Centre

Expression of Interest to: mundu55@hotmail.com
Ray Grima – 0411-636-590

The Flier is available here (DOC)
The Nomination Form is available here (DOC)

Source : Football Federation South Australia
Published : 10/3/2009

Representatives of the Sutherland Shire Futsal Association along with Players, Coaches and Officials of 21 other Futsal Clubs including special guests, directors and staff from Football NSW attended the Football NSW Futsal Presentation dinner at the Waterview Convention Centre, Homebush on Friday night the 6th March 2009.

The annual Futsal dinner was to present awards to various Clubs, Players and Coaches and to pay tribute to volunteers in each of the 22 Clubs overall who participated in the 08 – 09 Futsal Premier and Super Leagues season.

During the evening along with many other awards Football NSW Futsal presented a “Club Person of the Year” award to one person in each of the 22 Clubs. This pays respect to volunteers that are the driving force behind the Sport.

We are very pleased to announce that Ruth Guerreiro, our Association Secretary was presented with the “Club Person of the Year” award from Football NSW recognising devoted and outstanding service to Futsal in the Sutherland Shire.

The awards are testament to the dedication and commitment of each of the volunteers in each of the Clubs; ensuring that things get done behind the scenes. Well done again to Ruth Guerreiro for receiving this award.

For a full list of awards recipients go to www.footballnsw.com.au

Source : Sutherland Shire Futsal
Published : 8/3/2009

Vikings Futsal New Zealand is pleased to announce the appointment of of Gui Costa as Futsal Director of Coaching.

Costa has an extensive background in Futsal, coaching in Brazil, Japan and Australia. Costa visited the Island nations along with New Zealand in 2004 to assist the countries with their preparations for the World Cup Qualifiers for that year.

Recently Costa has been coach of the Australia women’s side and lead them to the Women’s World Cup in Spain 2008.

Costa will coach the Vikings New Zealand Mens side as the prepare for the Vikings Cup International in Christchurch (August) and a major European tournament in Russia during November. He will also help select and prepare Vikings New Zealand sides to travel to Sydney in 2010 while continuing coach education programs around New Zealand.

Gui Costa will start his position in May 2009.

Source : Vikings NZ
Published : 9/3/2009