The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) scrambles to replace head coach Tom Saintfiet as he leaves for Africa to take on a better coaching opportunity.

The 51-year-old Belgian, who has had a rich history of coaching in Africa, signed a two-year deal with the Malian Football Federation, both governing bodies announced on Thursday, Aug. 29.

“From my first meeting with Tom this is something we had discussed that if a bigger opportunity came to him that I wouldn’t stand in his way,” said director of senior national teams Freddy Gonzalez in a statement.

“Tom came into the Philippine job with every intention of helping with our project, but his heart has always been in Africa. We thank him for his service and wish him well in his new role,” he added.

As soon as Saintfiet took over from longtime mentor Michael Weiss, who couldn’t make his Philippine coaching reinstatement count, the former decided to drop the "Azkals" moniker to give the Nationals a fresh start.

In February, Saintfiet was tasked to lead the Pinoy booters and begin his tenure in four official matches in the preliminary joint qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

There, however, even his efforts to piece together a promising program only lasted six months which ended up with four defeats in two home and away matches against Vietnam, Indonesia and Iraq.

Though the PFF had always known that Saintfiet’s sudden departure could come at anytime of the day through the activated clause in his contract that allowed him to return to African football, the federation is rushing in search of a replacement ahead of the 2024 Pestabola Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 4 to 8.

Saintfiet was working with the Gambian national team when he accepted the job with the PH men's football team, which hadn't seen sustained success in recent years.

“With the Merdeka Cup around the corner, and preparations for the Mitsubishi Electric Cup ramping up, we need to move on quickly from this. We are already looking at candidates to take on the Head Coach role. I’m confident in finding a man that will be committed to our vision,” said Gonzalez.

This year alone, the PFF had lost its men's and women's team managers Dan Palami and Jefferson Cheng, respectively, while Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso hangs in the balance.