PVL president Ricky Palou says no player release request received from PNVF for 2025 SEA Games

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) has unveiled a 20-player pool for the upcoming 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand this December, as the national women’s volleyball team, Alas Pilipinas, looks to end a two-decade medal drought in the biennial event.

Led by veteran setter Jia de Guzman, the initial roster features a blend of experienced campaigners and promising young talent, including 15 active players from the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). Head coach Jorge Souza de Brito is expected to trim the lineup to 14 players for the final roster.

While the PVL has reiterated its support for Alas Pilipinas’ SEA Games campaign, league president Ricky Palou revealed in a recent media session that they have yet to receive any formal request from the PNVF for the release of players.

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“We don’t know anything about that. We did not receive any request from the PNVF. What we learned, however, is that they went directly to the teams asking for their players to join the national team without informing us,” Palou said.

“We were just surprised where the request came from. We haven’t even talked to the teams. They want us to release our players, but we haven’t received any letter or request,” he added.

The situation is particularly noteworthy given that Palou also serves as the PNVF’s vice president. Meanwhile, the federation has announced plans to hold a training camp from November 15 to 30 — either in Japan or Taiwan — as part of its SEA Games preparations.

PARA SA BAYAN, ALAS PILIPINAS! 🇵🇭

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation has unveiled the members of the Alas Pilipinas pool barely two months before the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.

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Palou said he will meet with PVL teams that have players named to the Alas Pilipinas pool, as well as with Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, to discuss the matter.

The POC had earlier warned the PVL that it could withdraw Alas Pilipinas from SEA Games participation if the league failed to comply with the existing Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). Palou disputed that claim, saying the PVL initially sent the draft MoA to the PNVF, which then made revisions and circulated the updated version to PVL clubs without informing league officials.

“We will talk to him about it. The PVL has always been supportive of the national team, but it should be a give-and-take partnership. We are willing to loan players as long as the PVL and the teams are properly informed,” Palou said.

“We came up with an MoU about lending players and gave it to them. They made changes and added so many items without even talking to us. Then they sent it to the teams using the Sports Vision letterhead. We don’t know anything about that. That’s not what we drafted.”

The PVL has continued to observe the national team window from May to October by avoiding any full conference during that period. Instead, the league staged its PVL On Tour and Invitational Conference while releasing players to Alas Pilipinas whenever called upon for national duty.

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