Futsal team to miss nat’l finals

CEBU futsal teams may miss the national finals of the Pilipinas Futsal Cup Winners Cup this November due to financial constraints.

If this happens, this will be the second time that Cebu will not have a representative in the national finals.

“That has been the major failure for provincial teams because we don’t have sponsors who can shoulder the travel expenses of the team,” said Chris Oon, organizer of the Cebu qualifiers.

A simulated world cup tournament was the format of last Dec. 2 qualifiers at Metro Sports and out of eight teams, Japan, made up of Japanese players from the Crazy Horse Football Club, defended its title in the men’s open.

With some eight months left, Oon is not losing hope and is working on getting sponsors to pay for the travel expenses of the team as he wants to give them a chance to represent Cebu in the national league.

He is also looking at the possibility of an under-23 team to represent Cebu as they have more chances of flying with the support of the school and parents.

However, he has to make sure that it won’t be unfair for Team Japan as it earned the right to represent Cebu by winning the local qualifiers.

Oon said that one of the reasons the sport is not picking up is the lack of enthusiasm from sponsors.