AFTER overseeing the Azkals, the national men’s football team, for 14 years, businessman Dan Palami announced yesterday that he is stepping down as the team manager of the squad he helped attain numerous milestones.
“I think it is time to move on in the next phase of my football life,” Palami, with new PFF president John Gutierrez by his side, said during a press conference at the federation’s headquarters in Pasig.
“After consulting with my family and friends, I felt it’s the right time to do so. I thank Sir John for allowing me to be dismissed from the duties and responsibilities as national team manager,” he added.
Responsible for bankrolling the Azkals as they achieved a semifinal breakthrough in the AFF Men’s Football Championship, then known as the Suzuki Cup, in 2010, Palami said that he would support the PFF in a private capacity.
“I am not leaving football, of course, because once you are in it, you are in it for life,” he said, revealing he has a school in Tacloban, Leyte that has an artificial pitch built with subsidies coming from the International Football Federation.
He said he recently partnered with a noted Norwegian football academy that will help in the institution’s football programs.
“The PFF would like to express its appreciation to the invaluable contributions of Sir Dan to Philippine football as a whole and not just the national team,” Gutierrez said as he paid tribute to the former Azkals manager.
“He has expressed his intention to step down as manager to give my administration a free hand while we move forward,” Gutierrez explained.
