The revelation was confirmed to The Phuket News today (Dec 4) by Kanissanan ‘Ole’ Srisamer, Vice President and General Manager of the recently formed Phuket City Football Association (PCFA).
However, Mr Kanissanan wanted it to be clear that PCFA is in no way affiliated with the former club Phuket FC.
The President of former Thai League 4 side Phuket FC, Pitipol Nukulpanichwipat, announced the termination of the eight-year-old club last Tuesday (Nov 28) due to an outstanding debt totalling B83mn from lawsuits filed by ex-players against the club’s previous owner, Pramookpisitt Achariyachai, Founder and President of Kata Group Resorts.
“We cannot continue to play in the Thai league. We cannot enter next year’s league because we have been stopped by football’s governing body Fifa. If we do not clear the B83mn debt, we cannot get the club licence to be able to continue to play,” Mr Pitipol told The Phuket News at last Tuesday’s press conference.
“The debt comes from three of Phuket FC’s former players suing Phuket FC for having their contracts terminated in 2014. Those players are Alonso Jose Carvalho da Silva, Marcio Gleydson da Silva Santos and Roland Gunter Vargas Aguilera,” he said. (See story here.)
Speaking to The Phuket News today (Dec 4), Mr Kanissanan said, “The people behind Phuket City Football Association want to bring fun back to Phuket football, to bring a team to Phuket that people want to cheer.”
“With an initial budget of B9 million from various sources, including sponsors, we will be able to start off this new football club by the start of 2018,” he explained.
“We are completely open to sponsors, to anyone who wants to support us. This team will be a Phuket team, for Phuket people. Any local businesses who want to support us, we are welcome to them, we will put their logos on our kits.”
“This team will be a Thai League 3 club, which means we are looking for 25 to 27 players.
“We are currently in the process of choosing our players, 60-70% of whom will be local Phuketian players. However, foreigners are also welcome to apply as well,” he said.
“We will have strict regulations which all of our players will be fully aware of. Our player contracts will be in both Thai and English and will be very clear, so as not to lead to any misunderstandings,” he said.
“We are also going to have a juniors club to train up younger players to join the league,” he added.
Mr Kanissanan explained that he has experience as a former manager of Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) Football Club of Pichit province, as a former manager for TTM Chiang Mai’s substitute team, and a former secretary for TTM FC.
“We will hold our first trials on the December 16. However, the location is not yet confirmed. I will give you this information when we have decided,” he said.
“There will also be three players from the Thai national team coming to play for Phuket City,” said Mr Kanissanan.
“The team is already licensed with the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), as we have bought the club and position from another team, whose name we will not disclose at this stage.
“So the licence is already obtained, we just require documents of proof to be sent to us. Everything is basically ready,” he said.
“Right now I will not disclose who PCFA’s owners are, nor the identity of the coaches. At this stage I am only prepared to let the public know that I am the general manager.
“Mr Jeerasak Chomthong, who is currently a marketing and communication manager for Chonburi FC is helping us with communication and media,” he said.
“We also have Mr Kittipop Jantatree, who is the former public relations manager of TTM Pichit, working with us as our public relations manager,” he said.
“More details will come in the next month or so. All details should be settled and available by January 2018,” he added.
“I am not affiliated in any way with the former club Phuket FC. We know each other through sporting events, however, we have never worked together.”