Azkals, Palami deny 'rape' allegation

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO

July 11, 2011, 10:14pm


MANILA, Philippines � The Philippine football team preparing for a second round World Cup qualifying date against Kuwait dismissed Monday a stunning accusation that four of its members were involved in a �rape� incident.

�It�s unfortunate that the boys have to face a controversy like this, but our main focus remains on our game versus Kuwait,� Azkals team manager Dan Palami said.

A tabloid report quoting a certain Paul Weiler, a German who had previous connections with the Philippine Football Federation, accused four Azkals of raping a woman inside the house of Palami in Manila more than a month ago.

But the four players � Jason Sabio, Neil Etheridge, Anton Del Rosario and Simon Greatwich � dispelled the allegation.

No charges have been filed against the players.


�Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat pa sa suporta nyo. The rumors/accusations are far from the truth and I hope that this matter is resolved,� Sabio said on his Twitter page.

�Thanks every1 for ur kind msgs of support. Don�t believe everything u read & these stories are far from the truth. Maraming salamat,� Greatwich said on Twitter.

�We�re trying to focus on the game ahead of us and that�s what�s more important than anything else,� Del Rosario said.

Palami said team officials will investigate the issue �which is now circulating in the internet� and promised to impose sanction if the allegation was true.

�These are serious allegations that are being plastered on the internet. As manager of the team, if this were true this will not be tolerated,� Palami said. �On the other hand, I can�t impose sanctions based merely on internet blogs because actually, I can write anything on the internet. Actually many of the information on the internet are unverified so I can�t rely on these alone.�



Palami said the team is affected by the issue.

�Of course it�s affecting our preparations because many of my players are bothered by this,� Palami said. �But after talking to my players, they are as surprised as well.�


Weiler, in the same tabloid report, claimed that he served as consultant of the PFF until June 15 this year, but PFF president Mariano Araneta said he doesn�t remember having an employee or official bearing his name.

�The source of the information is a purportedly self-appointed PFF consultant who�s basing his appointment on a letter made by then president Romualdez who has long been gone from the scene. Between that and the internet blog I have no sufficient basis to believe,� Palami said in a TV interview.

The Azkals are preparing for the home-and-away series against Kuwait on July 23 and 28.


Manila Bulletin