UFL: Nomads confirm withdrawal from UFL Cup due to foreign cap

Nomads, the oldest football club in the Philippines, has withdrawn from the UFL Cup after it was not granted an exemption from the foreigner cap by the United Football League.

Jeff Blake, one of the team's former keepers, made the announcement official, saying, “Unfortunately we had to withdraw today from the UFL Cup. We had hoped to be able to continue to play in the tournament through an exemption of the foreigner rule, but unfortunately our request was denied. We are deeply disappointed as this is a tournament that we thoroughly look forward to playing in every year.”

With a long-standing tradition of being a football club for expats who have settled in the country, many fans were hoping that the team would be granted an exemption in the same way that Lions XII, Brunei DPMM, Harimau Muda, and Albirex Niigata have in the Malaysian Super League and S-League respectively. However it appears that has been denied, as Nomads became the first top-flight team not to participate in the UFL Cup.

The UFL had earlier announced that they would allow just five foreign players per side on the pitch at one time, starting with the upcoming Cup.

At the press conference for the UFL Preseason Cup a fortnight ago, things were already looking uncertain for the club, who are a founding member of the UFL and whose tradition and history begins just seven years after the Philippine Football Federation was founded in 1907. Celebrating their centennial next year, Nomads are unlikely to be participating in the First Division next season too, as they have already submitted a request to drop down to the Second Division, where the foreign cap will not be instated for several more years.

Explaining the ethos behind the club, the recently-retired Blake said, “From a camaraderie standpoint, it’s much better for us [as an expat club]. Bringing in others changes the team, changes how the team functions overall. We want to keep our club’s values and traditions intact.”

UFL Board Member Monchu Garcia had alluded to the probability that no exemptions would be given and explained the reasoning behind that, saying, “I realize in other countries they have that situation [of exemptions for certain clubs]… but if you look at what happened last season, Team Socceroo won the Second Division and Stallion won the First Division… and at times they played nine or ten foreign players.”

It seems unlikely though that the Nomads would abuse such an exemption, being one of the lowest spenders in Division I throughout the last few years. Their entire budget for the team from last season was less than some individual players in the top teams of the league, for example. Built as an amateur club for friends, their ethos does not lend itself to bringing in talented foreigners for football reasons alone, with most of the players having full-time jobs.

Blake also said that the months the UFL gave to the club was not enough to form an entirely new squad with members possessing Filipino citizenship.

The Nomads do have a strong youth academy though, and so hopefully within the next few years the team can rebuild and look to that system for players to propel them forward.

For now, however, the league will have to reformat the UFL Cup, with the now-27 clubs being distributed into three groups of five and three groups of four to accommodate the odd number. The top three will qualify from the groups of five, while the top two automatically gain a spot in the knockout rounds from the groups of four, with the best third-placed team in the groups of four joining to make up the numbers.  - AMD, GMA News