Philippine national men’s football team manager Patrick Reichelt expressed frustration over several foreign clubs refusing to release Filipino players ahead of the 2026 ASEAN Championship, leaving the Nationals facing the prospects of fielding a rag-tag squad.

Reichelt said assembling the team has been especially difficult as the regional tournament falls outside the FIFA (International Football Federation) window, meaning clubs are under no obligation to release players for national team duty.

Unlike most of the other competing nations, the Philippines relies heavily on overseas-based players, making squad selection far more complicated.

With many clubs currently in preseason, several have opted to keep their Filipino players, forcing the Nationals to piece together the best available squad before their tournament opener against Myanmar on 28 July at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac.

“Unlike basically every other country participating in the ASEAN Championship, the majority of our player pool is based outside our local league, making a quick or timely squad announcement impossible as we deal with the difficulty of getting players released during a non-FIFA window, especially while clubs are in preseason,” Reichelt said.

“We appreciate the cooperation of a few clubs, but we’re also extremely disappointed that while most are releasing their local players to represent their respective national teams, they’re blocking Filipino players from participating.”

Reichelt stressed that he understands clubs wanting to retain their players during preseason, but questioned what he described as inconsistent treatment of Filipino internationals.

“Don’t get me wrong, we respect that the timing is unfortunate for clubs, but the inconsistency in their decisions regarding their local players compared to our players is very, very wrong,” Reichelt said.

The Philippines faces a tough Group B campaign against Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos and defending champion Thailand, with only the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.