Stolen credit cards ‘used for Malditas’ US tickets’

Dan Palami. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is looking into allegations that “stolen credit cards” were used to purchase airline tickets of members of the United States-based members of the national women’s team.

The players were later barred from boarding their flights in Manila following their Southeast Asian Games campaign.

A parent of one of the players, Tom Lee, has filed a complaint with the PFF, saying the incident had happened in several occasions, most recently last December when her daughter Monika was preparing to board her flight back to the US.

“I know this is a serious allegation and should not be taken lightly,” said Lee in a letter-complaint, an e-mailed copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer.

Lee said explanations given by airline counters were either the “ticket was not authorized” or the “ticket was purchased using a ‘reported’ credit card,” prompting the players to buy their own tickets. Malditas’ head coach Ernie Nierras said he will comment on the allegation as soon as he receives a copy of the complaint.

But PFF National Teams Committee chair Dan Palami urged the federation to dig deeper into the allegations.

“This is a serious allegation which could affect the performance of the team and the reputation of Philippine football,” said Palami.