Tuesday, June 23, 2009

RP football team scratched off Asian Youth Games roster

06/23/2009 10:07 PM


MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine football team, placed under quarantine in Singapore after one of its players was confirmed to have contracted the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, was formally scratched off in the list of participating teams in the Asian Youth Games on Tuesday.

This as the Singapore Health Ministry denied the Filipinos’ appeal to cut short the team’s period of isolation so it can join the 12 other nations in the meet, DZSR reported, quoting RP team deputy chef de mission and Philippine Football Federation president Mari Martinez.

The Philippines, though, is not the lone “casualty" of swine flu in the tournament as Hong Kong, which has four confirmed cases, was also taken out of the competition line up.

As some sort of consolation, though, the host nation will allow the Filipino booters to play an exhibition match against a still-unnamed team sometime between the end of their quarantine period on Friday and their scheduled flight back home on the June 28, DZSR added.

The football contingent was the first from the Philippines to check in at the youth meet as their competition is slated a week before the Games’ formal opening on June 29.

But the footballers’ Singapore trip hit a snag when one player, a 14-year-old boy, tested positive for A(H1N1) last Friday and in compliance with Singapore’s health guidelines, the whole team was placed on a seven-day quarantine at a beach resort.

The team composed of 17 players, two coaches and one therapist, eventually cleared subsequent A(H1N1) tests prompting RP officials – Martinez and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Harry Angping, who even flew in from Manila – to make an appeal before Singaporean authorities to let the squad play and catch up with their scheduled matches.

While in quarantine, the team continued to limber up and keep themselves fit, anxious to do their stuff on the football field.

But as it turned out, the Filipino booters could only settle for getting the chance to see action in Singapore one time – in a friendly match at that. – GMANews.TV

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

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