ALAS Pilipinas Women head coach Jorge Souza de Brito’s future at the helm has been thrown into uncertainty, with his contract set to expire by the end of the year.
While there is an option to extend, similar to what transpired last year when the 59-year-old Brazilian saw his three-year deal under the FIVB Empowerment Program extended until end of 2025, a different route is being eyed by the new leadership of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.
READ: De Brito dismisses criticism online as Alas Women miss SEAG medal
Following yet another fourth-place finish at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, capped by a heartbreaking 26–28, 25–13, 28–30, 24–26 loss to Indonesia in the bronze medal match, a coaching change is imminent barring any late reversals.
“Depending on [the terms of] his contract, but most likely to be replaced as head coach,” an unimpeachable source told SPIN.ph just hours after the defeat.
His previous extension came on the heels of a breakthrough 2024 campaign, where he steered the Philippines to its first-ever semifinal appearance at the Asian level and a bronze-medal finish in the AVC Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup held in Manila.
In the year that followed, Alas Women secured back-to-back bronze medals in the 2024 and 2025 SEA V.League tournaments before delivering a historic silver medal finish at the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup, the rebranded version of the Challenge Cup.
Among the popular names being floated around is Tai Bundit, whose first tenure with the national team was facilitated by new PNVF president Tony Boy Liao. De Brito was brought in by former PNVF chief Ramon 'Tats' Suzara.
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