The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) suffered a major blow as its women’s national team manager and biggest benefactor — Jefferson Cheng — formally stepped down due to “unworkable situation.”
In a statement sent to Daily Tribune on Sunday, Cheng said he reached out to the PFF director for the national teams Freddy Gonzales on Thursday to tender his resignation as manager of the squad that made a historic appearance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year.
He said his priorities and goals are no longer aligned with the PFF, which is now headed by John Anthony Gutierrez.
“For several months, we tried our best to make things work under new and very different circumstances,” Cheng said.
“Unfortunately, the situation is not workable.”
“Our priorities and goals do not align and the PWNT organization that we worked hard to develop in the past years is incompatible with the current methods.”
The PFF accepted Cheng’s resignation and expressed gratitude to his contributions to Philippine football.
“Under Mr. Cheng’s leadership and backing in the PWNT, the Philippines achieved the elusive World Cup dream when the Filipinas made it to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” the federation said.
“For this, Mr. Cheng’s other efforts to promote the beautiful game and uphold the welfare of the Filipino football stakeholders in the country, the PFF is grateful.”
Gonzales stressed that Cheng’s departure had left a huge void in their program.
“As director of national teams, the challenge of filling the void created by his departure falls under my responsibility,” Gonzales said.
“It’s a huge challenge, but I have every intention to ensure that we keep the program of the women’s national team progressing in the right direction. We must continue building on Jeff’s great work.”
Under Cheng, the Filipinas emerged as a rising football power in Asia.
They shocked heavyweight Vietnam, 4-0, in the semifinals before booking a 3-0 victory over Thailand to win the title in the AFF Women’s Championship in 2022 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Aside from the continental crown, the Filipinas also made it to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time ever.
Bannered by Filipino-foreign players Sarina Bolden, Sarah Eggesvik, and Chandler and Olivia McDaniel, the Filipinas pulled off a shocker when they beat New Zealand, 1-0, to notch their first ever victory in the world stage.
The win was greatly celebrated back home with Cheng being hailed as a hero for putting together a collection of stars that is capable of winning against the best football players in the world.
Sources said Cheng, a well-respected businessman and president of Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, had spent north of P100 million of his personal resources just to finance the recruitment, training and participation of the Filipinas in major international events.
But his support for the national squad started to turn sour when the leadership of the PFF meddled with the selection process of the team that saw action in the AFC Asia Cup U17 last May in Indonesia.
“There was a falling out between Mr. Cheng and the PFF over the formation of the team that competed in the Asia Cup U17,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It’s really sad because Mr. Cheng has been spending his personal money to finance a team without expecting anything in return. As you know, women’s football is not as commercially profitable as, say, professional basketball or women’s volleyball, so managing the Filipinas is really a sacrifice on his part.”
Another source, a close Cheng associate, said it wasn’t an easy decision for Cheng.
“It was really a difficult decision for him. His utmost concern is the girls,” said the source, adding that Cheng is still wishing the team well in its future endeavors, including the Southeast Asian Games and the Asean Women’s Championship next year.
