By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
It’s official, the most decorated football club in Southeast Asia will be renamed from Ceres-Negros FC to United City FC.
The change was announced after MMC Sportz Asia and a group of investors participated in the club’s official ownership transfer signing for the current no. 1 ranked football club in the whole of Southeast Asia and the kings of the Philippines Football League (PFL).
“We will now immediately apply for the permission with the PFF (Philippine Football Federation) to rename the club to ‘United City Football Club’ and request the PFF to support our statement of intent to continue participating in the AFC Cup,” said Eric Gottschalk, CEO of MMC Sportz Asia.
The official transfer of ownership will allow the PFL champions to join the ongoing 2020 AFC Cup and defend their title in the PFL.
According to the United City FC statement, 16 out of 21 former players from Ceres-Negros remained committed to the squad excluding the newly-retired James Younghusband.
Also, the new management will be retaining the services of head coach Risto Vidakovic and general manager Ace Bright.
“The aim is to keep the team and staff together as much as possible, and allow them the well-deserved chance to continue to play football amid the challenges that everyone has been facing,” added Gottschalk.
