Team Azkals is currently preparing for the first leg of the
Azkals vs Kuwait match for the second round of the 2014 World Cup Asia qualifiers. Four members of the team Azkals are now facing one of the toughest scandal controversies at them.
The four members of the
Philippine Azkals football team have been accused of rape but team manager,
Dan Palami, denied the allegation saying that the rumored scandal came from the Internet where anything can be posted.
It all started when a Filipino gossip blog posted a print screen of conversation between Azkals head
coach Michael Weiss and a certain
Paul Weiler, and keeper
Neil Etheridge and Weiler. The four members of the team namely
Neil Etheridge,
Anton del Rosario,
Jason Sabio and
Simon Greatwich allegedly raped a woman in Palami’s house.
Till now we still do not know if the Azkals rape scandal is true.
According to Palami, “[So far] we only have two statements—the blog entry and the statement of
Paul Weiler—both are not credible,". He will be investigating the incident although the accounts of the players and those in the house did not match the accusations of the blogger.
“Before we judge or post anything, siguro check muna natin yung facts because maraming taong naaapektuhan," Palami added.
Palami, for his part, said it is “unfortunate" that the team is being hounded by such a negative issue. “But we cannot be distracted from our goal," he said.
“I think that there are a few people out there who just want to take away the limelight from the Azkals,". Despite the
rape controversy, the Azkals team is focused to win their
Kuwait match on July 23, according to team captain
Aly Borromeo.