Four members of the highly popular Philippine Azkals football team have been accused of rape, the accusation coming just as the team is preparing for the second round of the 2014 World Cup Asia qualifiers against Kuwait. But in an interview aired on GMA Newsâ â24 Oras" on Monday, team manager Dan Palami denied the allegation, pointing out that it came from the Internet where anything can be posted. According to the â24 Oras" report, the controversy started when a Filipino gossip blog posted screen caps of what was purportedly a conversation between Azkals head coach Michael Weiss and a certain Paul Weiler, and keeper Neil Etheridge and Weiler. In the blog entry, four members of the teamâNeil Etheridge, Anton del Rosario, Jason Sabio and Simon Greatwich â were alleged to have raped a woman in Palamiâs house. The story was picked up by the tabloid Bandera. Palami said Weiler applied to become a consultant of the team 10 years ago, during the time of former Philippine Football Federation President Johnny Romualdez. âUntil now yan ang hinahawakan niyang papel," said Palami.
Palami said when he met Weiler in Germany, he told him to secure accreditation from the current administration. Weiler then asked to be a consultant to the Azkals, which Palami said he rejected because the position was not needed. â
Medyo hindi ata nasiyahan na hindi [siya] tinanggap⦠So Iâm quite surprised na meron siyang mga ganon," said Palami. The Azkals manager said he had also talked to the coaches and players regarding the issue, but all of them denied speaking to Weiler. Weiss refused to be interviewed on television, but cautioned people not to believe everything on the Internet, the â24 Oras" report said. â[So far] we only have two statementsâthe blog entry and the statement of Paul Weilerâboth are not credible," said Palami. He said he will be investigating the incident, although he said the accounts of the players and those in the house did not match the accusations of the blogger. âBefore we judge or post anything,
siguro check muna natin yung facts because maraming taong naaapektuhan," Palami said.
Still focused Despite the controversy, the team remains focused on winning their away game against Kuwait on July 23, according to team captain Aly Borromeo. âI think that there are a few people out there who just want to take away the limelight from the Azkals," Borromeo said. Palami, for his part, said it is âunfortunate" that the team is being hounded by such a negative issue. âBut we cannot be distracted from our goal," he said. By
defeating Sri Lanka with an aggregate score of 5-1, the Azkals
made history by being the first Philippine squad to win a FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff match. Borromeo and midfielder Stephan Schrock will not be seeing action in the same against Kuwait because of the two yellow cards they incurred.
- KBK, GMA News