United City FC. –PFL/UCFC PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–United City FC on Thursday announced its withdrawal from the resumption of the 2022-23 Philippines Football League season after confirming of financial woes that hounded the club during the long break.
UCFC broke its silence after weeks of inactivity on social media, saying that its request for a “non-participation” for the remainder of the league season was granted by the Philippine Football Federation due to legal issues with a Singaporean company listed as an investor.
“UCFC had signed a major agreement with RCL, a Singapore based real estate & sports investment entity in mid 2021, which the same company finally defaulted under in Oct. 2022,” United City said.
“Since RCL also failed to honor the agreed final settlement deadlines earlier this month, it has now forced UCFC to temporarily discontinue its professional football team operations and to withdraw its team from the remainder of the 2022/23 PFL season.”
Rumors of United City’s struggles have been spreading throughout the football community and in fan groups online, especially after a number of key players instrumental in its title run in the Copa Paulino Alcantara signed overseas and moved to other PFL clubs.
“The case of UCFC is part of the realities on the ground, which must be addressed,” PFL commissioner Coco Torre said. “We commend UCFC for the high standards they have set earlier on, but we must also consider the economics surrounding football as a business.”
The league will determine in the future the matches affecting United City, which before the league went on a long respite in November was running second in the seven-team table.
United City made its debut in 2020 after it took over the club license of Ceres-Negros, which disbanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It won the pandemic-shortened 2020 PFL season led by Ceres holdovers Stephan Schrock and Bienvenido Maranon before adding the Copa crown in 2022 after dethroning titleholder Kaya-Iloilo.
The club also appeared in the AFC Champions League on two occasions in 2021 and 2022.
UCFC had been playing its home matches in New Clark City following a partnership with the Capas, Tarlac venue.
“We understand the situation affecting United City FC that forced them to withdraw from the league,” said PFF president Nonong Araneta. “We hope that the club and its management are able to bounce back from this predicament.”