Fair Play: Ridiculous move by PFF committee

WHEN it comes to some of the strangest moves in Philippine football, Graeme Mackinnon, the former Cebu-based Australian who has earned a place in the the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame has seen and heard it all.

But even the move of the PFF Disciplinary Committee floored him.  The committee, which was investigating the sexual harassment complaint by Christy Ramos against Lexton Moy and Angel Guirado threw out the complaint but, nevertheless, suspended Moy, Guirado Dennis Wolf and James Younghusband for breakdown of discipline for a game. Out for two games for failure of leadership were coaches Michael Weiss and Dan Palami, while Edzel Bracamonte got one game.



Graeme, now back in Australia after a brief stint as Global FC coach in the UFL, said, "Dan Palami and Michael Weiss have been found guilty and suspended by a group who were investigating a totally different matter. It appears that when the Cristy Ramos incident happened Palami and Weis were NOT even in the dressing room and for that they have been found guilty of not being leaders?"

Graeme said Weiss and Palami missed the match inspection because they made a late inspection of the field. "As a coach or manager, they have to check these things and then relay to their players...hardly a failure of leadership I would think."

As for James, the captain for that match, he said, "James is a player not a yaya. He also has to get dressed and prepare …players have differing ways of preparing and if James is expected to be babysitting ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS as well as preparing himself he should retire now. There is that oft used saying 'Only in the Philippines' and here is yet another example.  A suspension for players and officials that is nothing short ridiculous."

If those suspensions were strange, there’s an even stranger move, one, I think, that hasn’t been mentioned in the news.

Ritchie Gannaban got the shock of his life when he was handed a one-month ban from international football when his only involvement in the incident was he was outside the room when Cristy Ramos made the inspection.  Because he was there, he was mentioned in Cristy’s complaint. 

Ritchie said that he failed to send his statement when he was asked to do so, but he told me he didn’t because he wanted to get the side of the two players. 

And, if that’s the case, getting a month’s suspension for failing to reply and for just being there?  

Ridiculous!