PARENTS of the Benthel Asia School of Technology U16 team have taken the Cebu Regional Football Association to court for disqualifying its team from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) U16 domestic qualifiers, and is asking the court to compel the FA to stop the conduct of the tournament and allow the squad to play.
CebuSports.Net got a copy of the lawsuit, filed by 11 parents of BAST players on Aug. 20, 2025 against defendants CRFA president Rodney Orale, match commissioner Milky Canete, and the rest of the Board of Directors of the CRFA.
In their complaint, the parents said CRFA’s adoption of the three-month residency rule–which requires players to have have played solely for their club or school in the three months before the qualifiers–is unjust and meant to single out BAST.
For the U16 qualifiers, the PFF says RFAs may adopt a club-based, school-based or both club and school-based competitions. However, clubs and schools can’t combine to join the qualifiers. The PFF also said RFAs may adopt its own eligibility rules.
During the coaches meeting, the CRFA presented the guidelines for the U16 competition, including the three-month residency rule for the players.
In its complaint, BAST said it submitted its lineup on Aug. 14, two days before its first game, and that though coach Warloo Sabella was questioned that some of the players were ADA players, Sabella reasoned out ADA Cebu and BAST are essentially the same team as they have the same core of players.
“However, despite defendant Canete and Dave Intong’s complaint that the players of BAST are ADA players, no action was taken whether they are eligible or not to play in the domestic qualifier,” BAST said in its lawsuit.
The parents said they were surprised to learn that on the day the team was supposed to play, 15 of their 23-man roster, including 10 starters, were disqualified. They also said the CRFA failed to announce the reason for the disqualification of the players, leading them to speculate what those who saw the incident must have thought.
“When the players, parents and supporters from USC, Ateneo and Don Bosco realized and thought that the entire team was disqualified, they erupted cheers, knowing that the most vaunted team in the tournament which consists of players from teams that finished as champions and first runner-up of the 2024 Aboitiz Cup had been booted out of the domestic qualifier for the National Championship, to the embarrassment and humiliation of the players and family of the BAST team. The kids cried because of the angst and humiliation that herein defendants brutally dished out at them at Dynamic Herb Sports Complex,” BAST claimed.
BAST also pointed out that Don Bosco A, Don Bosco B, USC, Abellana National School, Ateneo de Cebu, Don Bosco Liloan, CFC all fielded players who played for other teams in the three months prior the competition and were not penalized by the CRFA.
“Gi-ingnan nako sila (during the coaches meeting) na ‘tabangay ta. Wala man mi ka memorize aning mga players. Kung naa mo nabal-an nga niduwa sa lain team, i-inform mi,'” Canete told CebuSports.Net.
BAST also accused the CRFA of arbitrarily charging an entrance fee of P80 for players and P100 for parents at the Dynamic Herb Stadium during the qualifiers.
“Such a scheme by defendant CVFA tantamount to adding more qualifications for a player to play. Apart from the P10,000.00 registration fee that each team had to fork out to join the Domestic Qualifier, they have to fork out an additional exorbitant amount to be allowed to play by requiring the payment of entrance fees. Imagine if a team has a maximum of 23 players plus the head coach and assistant coach. That would be 25 persons at 80 pesos each. That’s an extra P2,000 that each team have to fork out each game or a total of P6,000 for each team for the three elimination games of the Domestic Qualifier in Cebu. If such action by defendant CVFA is not considered arbitrary, onerous and abuse of authority, then plaintiffs don’t know what is,” BAST said in its complaint.
The CRFA rents the venue from Dynamic Herb, which manages the stadium and collects entrance fee and on the first day of the tournament, the CRFA paid P1,600 for the entrance fee of ANS.
In their lawsuit, BAST asked the court to stop the CRFA from further conducting the U16 qualifiers and that their team be allowed to play. It also asked for P300,000 in exemplary damages and P500,000 in moral damages.
“Plaintiffs were humiliated and their persons debased by the patently malicious acts of defendants which is deleterious to the development and left scars in the psyche of plaintiffs for which plaintiffs should be awarded with moral damages,” BAST said.
A hearing for the TRO has been set for Aug. 26, with only two group stage matches left–USC vs ANS on Aug. 27 and CFC vs. Ateneo on Sept. 1–before the scheduled semifinal round on Sept. 3.
