The 2013 United Football League Cup was the fifth edition of the United Football League Cup. The competition started on October 12 and finished on December 5, 2013.
The UFL Cup opens the new season with the launching of its Fantasy Football Games after UFL has signed a three-year partnership with FanXT.[2] Also, UFL has announced that it has undergone partnership with low-cost airline Tigerair Philippines which will serve as their Official Airline for a year.[3]
In this edition of UFL Cup, total of 27 clubs will compete for the cup after the pullout of Division 1 team Manila Nomads citing the five-foreigners-on-the-field rule issue.[5] This year will also see the return of Cebu Queen City United to the cup competition[6] along with the 8 guest/invited clubs which include the defending PFF National Men's Club Championship titleholders Ceres.[7] The groups with five teams will see their top three enter the knockout round-of-16 stage, while the groups with four clubs will have their top two assured of passage, plus the best third-placer.
From the 27-team competition, it was later reduced to 23 teams after Division 1 team Pasargad together with three guest/invited clubs Manila Tala FC, Mendiola United and Manila Hurricanes FC decided to withdraw their participation in the Cup citing their inability to field a competitive team. Due to their withdrawal to the tournament, the UFL redrawn teams and the format of having 6 groups was changed to 5 wherein five teams comprised groups A, C and E while four teams were featured in groups B and D. The top three teams of each group will be advancing to the Knockout Round-of-16 stage and the highest ranked fourth-placed team among the five groups will be the sixteenth team to qualify.[8]
Rules on foreign players
For the 2013/14 UFCA (UFL) Football Season, the UFL Executive Committee has decided to implement a Foreign Player Rule. A club may only field in a maximum of five foreign players on the pitch at any given time. Of the six remaining players on the pitch, two may still be foreigners provided that they are permanent residents of the Philippines for at least five years.[9]
Group stage
Key to colours in group tables
Group winners, Runners-up and Third-placed team advance to the knock out stage
Qualified for Best Ranked Fourth-placed team that will advance to the knock out stage
The best ranked fourth-placed team among the groups will qualify for the Knock-out Round-of-16 Stage. In the groups of 5, the matches between the 4th placed and the bottom-placed team were not considered for games played calculation.
They are determined by the parameters in this order:
