Last Tuesday, word came out that Venice Furio, one of the original and probably, one of the most, if not the most, passionate fans and supporters of women’s football in the country, was banned from covering the Philippine National Women’s Football Team, while the Filipinas are camped at the MOA Football Field.
Naturally, the first question is — what? And the second one is — why? So The Designated Kit Man tried to get the details on what really transpired. And how it ended in this glaring development that not a few friends, who have been covering not only football but other sports in the county, regard as an attack against press freedom.
For a short background, Ven has been covering and following the Women’s National Football Team, initially called Malditas then, but now called Filipinas, since the middle of 2000s. Roughly about 20 years, give or take a few months. She was already a supporter when nobody gave a damn about the team. She has been active in her social media pages in giving updates, news and other developments on the Filipinas and other national teams as well.
So it was really a surprise why she was being banned from covering the team or why her access to the Filipinas was revoked.
In a chat with Ven, she revealed that it was an official of both the Men’s and Women’s National Football Teams of the Philippines, who relayed the difficult news to her.
She was supposed to request for an interview with the Filipinas, but instead of a reply, the officer called to tell her that her access to the team was revoked because “certain individuals” were not happy with her posts in social media. She added that “right daw nila ‘yun, the same way I have the right to post my opinions”. Ven also added that the officer was not sure if the ban is for the ongoing camp alone, or might be extended further. But one thing is for sure, she can’t interview anyone on the team right now.
A source, however, told The Designated Kit Man that “She (Furio) was felt to have made too many unsubstantiated and negative posts to warrant access to this Filipinas camp.”
The source also added that “there was the mocking of this upcoming match, but also comments made in the previous windows that stretched back to mid-late last year” as the reasons that led to Furio’s ban.
Which brings us to the next possible question: What are these posts that led to Ven’s ban?
Ven maintained that on the upside, the ban is actually a blessing. “Nakakalungkot, but this has given me the freedom not to hold back anymore,” she explained.
The Designated Kit Man reached out to Freddy Gonzalez, Director of National Senior Teams of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the concurrent manager of both the national men’s football team and the Filipinas to add clarity to the issue.
Gonzalez told me that there was a request by the coaching staff to limit the presence of media and other personalities during the camp. That media should be present at an agreed time and day, so that the players could fully concentrate at the camp, knowing that there are so many newcomers and this is the first time in such a long time that the Filipinas are back in the country.
“They want to limit those interactions and really focus on what they need to do because we have the Southeast Asian Games, the ASEAN Championship – which we are all expected to win– and I told the coaches that I expect them to win these tournaments. The mandate for these guys (coaching staff) is to win these tournaments. Their jobs are on the line. There is no excuse,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says that aside from these, the Filipinas are set to compete in tournaments in China and United Arab Emirates to prepare them for the Asian Cup qualifiers which understandably add pressure and stress in the camp.
Gonzalez also made it clear that the Furio incident is not an attack against press freedom. He believes the media is a valuable partner of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the sport in general.
“I expect the journalist to keep the PFF, in general, on its toes. Keep the national team and hold everybody accountable. I totally support that and you know at the end of the day if the team played badly, things went wrong, we didn’t get the results we wanted or deserved, I have no issues with people calling us out. I’ll be the first to criticize,” Gonzalez explained.
Gonzalez, however, maintained that people should also get the other side or the person involved for fairness and clarity. He likewise gave the assurance to find out what really happened and to get to the bottom of the issue.
Hopefully soon, because until now, there is no formal statement coming from the PFF to address the issue.
Which sets a very dangerous precedent. As a good friend, Cedelf Tupas, asked “How could you ban someone from covering the national team?”
The football community is not a big community. Unlike basketball and volleyball, football doesn’t garner the support and the fans that it deserves. To limit the same people, who have been covering and supporting the teams is not only an affront to press freedom, but to common sense as well.
Kakaunti na lang ang nagusulat sa football, mababawasan pa. Again things could have been handled differently, football journalists here in the country are very easy and simple to deal with. Less crap, less bullshit and more importantly, less pettiness are the basic but non-negotiable things we ask for. Nothing more, nothing less.
It is such a big disappointment, too, that instead of focusing on the gains the sport has generated, including the positivity and good vibes, especially with our men’s team and the arrival of new and exciting players in the Filipinas camp, big egos being hurt or extra sensitive trump common sense, decency and empathy.
Which makes me wonder, if negative posts and unsubstantiated claims are the real reasons for banning Ven or something more alarming that “certain individuals” would rather not want us to know?
Laban lang Ven and my colleagues in the football beat. Let’s continue to ‘misbehave’!
By the way, I’m excited to hear that a women’s super league is in the works.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat