Softball players now under POC

The Philippine Olympic Committee has instructed the Philippine Sports Commission to ignore the present leadership of the amateur softball association and should deal directly with its players and coaches until such time the POC arbitration committee has found a solution to the leadership dispute between feuding leaders Rolly Rivera and Filomeno "Boy" Codiñera.

The POC will likewise directly handle the training of the national softball players preparing for September's Southeast Asian Games.

"We don’t want our athletes to be affected by the problems caused by National Sports Association leaders so we advised the PSC to talk directly to the national softball coaches and team members with regard to their training needs," POC president Celso Dayrit said.

Dayrit said yesterday he had given Altura two weeks to conduct an inquiry after the board of directors installed Codiñera in place of Rivera.

"We want the problems in the association resolved and the Arbitration Commission has two weeks to do that," said Dayrit.

Altura is currently out of town and is expected to act on the affidavits submitted to the POC by Rivera and Codiñera when he comes back early next week. — Joey Villar