MANILA, Philippines – Smartmatic Philippines, main sponsor of the Global Smartmatic team that won the recent United Football League LBC Cup, has vowed to keep supporting efforts to develop football in the Philippines.
“As we have always believed, football is one sport that Filipinos can definitely excel in. Smartmatic is committed to seeing this global sport take root and flourish in this country,” Smartmatic Philippines chairman Cesar Flores said as he lauded the squad for its much-deserved win.
Global Smartmatic dethroned the Air Force Riders with a pulsating 3-2 win in a finale that kept hundreds of fans on the edge of their seats.
The team is managed by Dan Palami and boasts of national mainstays Aly Borromeo, Jerry Barbaso, Kim Relucio and David Basa and strikers Izo Elhabbib from Sudan and Misagh Bahadoran from Iran.
Global Smartmatic emerged second in its group during the group stages and went on to beat Stallions FC in the quarters, 1-0, and Army Fritz and Macziol in the semis, 1-0, to advance against Air Force Riders in the finals.
“With the support of government and the private sector, we are confident that the Philippines will soon join the rest of the world in giving due recognition to this exciting sport,” Flores said.
Smartmatic, a multinational company which partnered with Comelec to provide the technology for the country’s first ever automated national polls in 2010, is a strong advocate of corporate social responsibility and has been involved in various charitable work such as laptop donations and house-building activities.