Merlo Silva Albano is a former Philippine international footballer and referee.

Early life and education

Born in 1979, Merlo Silva Albano is the fourth child of Loyolo and Mercedes Albano. She graduated from the

Holy Cross of Davao College Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) is a Catholic private basic and higher education institution run by the Archdiocese of Davao in Davao City, Philippines. It was founded by the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary Sisters in 1951 ...

with the bachelor's degree in physical education

Playing career

Albano started playing football as early as 2004. In that year she played for a representative side of Davao in an open tournament in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

which gave way for an opportunity to train with the

Philippines women's national football team The Philippines women's national football team represents the Philippines in international women's association football competitions. It is managed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the sport's governing body in the country. The Ph ...

for a month. She then debuted for her country at the

2004 AFF Women's Championship The 2004 AFF Women's Championship was hosted by Vietnam. The inaugural tournament was held from 30 September to 9 October 2004. Myanmar became the first nation to win the tournament by beating Vietnam in the final. Group stage Group A ---- ...

in Vietnam and also played in the 2007 edition of the tournament which was hosted in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. She played for the national team until 2008 often spending time training in Manila. She decided to retire from the national team due to financial issues and being away from her family in Davao City. She also served as a playing coach for Sakya FC of the Maharlika Sports Development Institute organized She Futsal League.

Officiating career

Affiliated with the Davao-South Regional Football Association of the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

, Albano became an international referee for FIFA in 2012 and as of 2018 is an assistant referee officiating in women's football matches. She has officiated at the

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international women's football tournament in Asia competed by the national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). India was selected as ...

References

External links

1979 births Living people Filipino women's footballers 21st-century Filipino sportswomen Philippines women's international footballers Sportspeople from Davao City Women's association football referees Women association football referees Filipino football referees Women's association football players not categorized by position {{Philippines-women-footy-bio-stub