A war is brewing as the Philippine Volleyball Federation sanctioned the Philippine Volleyball Federation for non-compliance to the calendar set by the International Volleyball Federation.
In a PNVF memorandum obtained by Daily Tribune on Thursday, PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said the PVL, the only professional women’s volleyball league in the country, staged a tournament “within the national team period without authorization.”
With that, the federation will bar PVL clubs from securing international transfer certificates for foreign guest players, prompting the league to either change the format or completely drop its season-ending Reinforced Conference.
The letter addressed to league organizer Sports Vision president Ricky Palou stated that the league, which has been the main source of national team players for years, has violated Article 6.1.1.b of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball Sports Regulations 2022 which stated that the national team period from 16 May to 15 October shall be prioritized in the calendar.
“We write in reference to the correspondence of the Volleyball Department of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), bringing to our attention that Premier Volleyball League has been operating within the National Team period without due authorization,” the PNVF memo stated.
The PVL is currently staging its mid-season Invitational Conference which will run until 30 July.
“As the PVL has scheduled its season and conferences still coinciding with the stipulated National Team season and without due and express authorization, PNVF will now recommend for the league to refrain from contracting foreign guest players requiring to undergo the ITC procedure for 2023. With this, any requests originating from PVL members teams shall not be processed,” the memo read.
Foreign guest players need to secure an ITC as part of the requirements to get a green light to play in the PVL’s import-laden tournament.
According to the FIVB regulation, “national leagues may operate during this time only subject to the approval of the FIVB. Such approval may be given for the highest two (2) divisions of National Leagues if the territory in which the National League is based is not participating in international competitions. National Leagues shall not be entitled to operate for fourteen (14) days before the day of the first match of and fourteen (14) days after the day of the last match of any national team competition(s) in which the national team of the territory of the National League is competing, unless otherwise approved by the FIVB.”
PNVF said that, on several occasions, it has reached out and recommended to the league “to slowly transition into the FIVB Sport calendar, as means to comply with IF-stipulated schedules.”
“Efforts have been initiated since 2022. However, the conflict of schedule remains even up to this season, with the interests of the National Team program ultimately being compromised,” the PNVF wrote.
“We continue to hope that the PVL will consider the alignment of schedule with FIVB regulations, in order to satisfy and serve all stakeholders of the sport.”
The PVL, however, has been very supportive to the national team program.
In fact, the league loaned its players, including seven from Creamline led by Alyssa Valdez, to the national squad that saw action in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last month.
Valdez was even appointed to lead the national team in the traditional parade of colors.
PVL players also represented the country in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Women in Indonesia recently.
The league even pushed back its Invitational Conference originally slated to begin 6 June to 27 June to give way to the national team’s AVC Challenge Cup stint.
“As far as we are concerned, we have been very supportive to the national team program. That’s why it came as a surprise that the federation is sanctioning us,” a PVL insider told Daily Tribune in a conversation.
“We want to see the official memo first before we come up with an official statement.”
