What’s wrong with PFF?

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) committed yet another head-scratching blunder when it banned a journalist from covering the national women’s team.

Venice Furio is no ordinary member of the very tight circle of football reporters. She has been doing a tremendous job profiling the players, especially the Filipino-foreigners who are trying their best to reach out to their countrymen.

She is so influential that her podcast — Futbol Brew — has served as the mouthpiece of local football stars. In fact, Filipinas team captain Tahnai Annis picked her platform last December to drop her bombshell announcement that she is retiring from the national squad.

Yet, the PFF still banned her.

Sideliners said ranking federation officials were not happy about her recent commentary on the state of women’s football in the country. There was no formal memorandum or anything as Furio only learned about her banishment when she approached the federation for permission to interview the Filipinas, who are in the thick of their training at the Mall of Asia football field.

The PFF’s hostile act was not a surprise to football reporters. They had seen it coming.

Just last month, the PFF organized a press conference to present the members of the team that will replace the Pinay5 — the squad that was supposed to see action in the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers and, hopefully, the FIFA Women’s World Cup that the country will host this year.

The formation of the new team was very controversial.

With philanthropist Danny Moran as godfather and futsal icon Vic Hermans of the Netherlands as head coach, the Pinay5 had been training hard in preparation for major tournaments ahead.

Yet, in a strange twist of fate, the federation suddenly decided to overhaul the roster by transferring Hermans to the men’s team while inserting Filipinas stalwarts Katrina Guillou and Bella Flanigan into the new squad.

Eventually, the majority of the Pinay5 resigned, forcing the PFF to form a new team that will compete in the continental tournament.

During the press conference, football reporters were pumped up, ready to fire away with questions that would shed light on the unexpected revamp. But to their surprise, PFF president John Gutierrez gave them an “orientation,” telling them to “keep their eyes on the ball” and “please behave,” hinting that they should not ask questions that would shatter the narrative they were trying to project.

Gutierrez was said to have uttered his warning calmly. But for those who witnessed him deliver his verbal jab, it was sharp, rude and splattered with a huge amount of disrespect for those who are supposed to be their partners in promoting the moral values of the “beautiful game” in the country.

What’s wrong with the PFF?

What used to be one of the more ideal national sports associations that served as a role model for its fairness, equality, transparency and good governance had turned into a green-eyed monster ready to strike at anyone who didn’t toe the line.

Under former PFF chief Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Philippine football enjoyed its golden years.

All of the national squads were taken care of with generous sponsors ready to dig deep into their pockets to make sure the country would be well-represented in major international tournaments.

But when Gutierrez took over, a cloud of gloom suddenly hovered over the federation.

National men’s team manager Dan Palami was the first to step down followed by national women’s team patron Jefferson Cheng and national women’s futsal team sponsor Moran. Even the staff, those who worked so hard to turn the PFF into a model federation, were like rats jumping out of a sinking ship the moment Gutierrez assumed power.

How petty can the PFF get? After driving away the sponsors, the staff and some players, now it’s ostracizing a legitimate member of the working media? Wow!

The PFF’s sanctioning bodies — the International Football Federation, Asian Football Federation, ASEAN Football Federation, and the Philippine Olympic Committee — must take a long hard look at the state of football in the country. They must probe why the federation has completely gone rogue, potentially sending Philippine football back to the Dark Ages.

They must do something before time runs out.