Writing on the wall

It looks like the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is set to expel the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) as the country’s National Sports Association (NSA) for basketball in a special General Assembly meeting tentatively scheduled on July 6.

A three-fourths vote is required to strike an NSA out of the POC’s rolls.

The General Assembly earlier suspended the BAP on a unanimous vote. The suspension required only a two-thirds nod. Another unanimous vote is expected to formalize the BAP’s demise.

POC media affairs chief Joey Romasanta said a 15-day notice is required to call a special General Assembly meeting and July 6 is the target for the axe to fall. By then, POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr., who is in the US, will have returned home.

Anticipating a vacuum once the BAP is expelled, Romasanta said the wheels are turning in the process of creating a new organization to take over as the NSA for basketball.

The BAP’s likely successor is the newly-formed Philippine Basketball Federation, Inc. (PBF) whose incorporators are Gen. Edgardo Aglipay, Jun-Jun Capistrano of the UAAP, Fr. Victor Calvo of the NCAA, Chito Narvasa of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines, PBA chairman Buddy Encarnado, PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad, former BAP secretary-general Nic Jorge, former Asian Basketball Confederation secretary-general Moying Martelino and Romasanta.

For the PBF to be recognized as an NSA, it must be recommended by the POC membership committee to the Executive Board before final confirmation by the General Assembly.

The next regular General Assembly meeting will be sometime in July or close to when the special General Assembly meeting is to be held. Once the General Assembly confirms the PBF to be the new NSA for basketball, the next step is for the PBF to seek recognition from FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball).

The FIBA affiliation should be a matter of course since a requirement is recognition by the POC as the NSA for basketball. But the question is how soon FIBA can act on the request for affiliation.

FIBA will need to convene its Board to confirm the PBF’s affiliation. FIBA president Carl Men Ky Ching, however, has assured Cojuangco of his full support for his initiative. FIBA-Asia affiliation will follow as soon as FIBA recognition is granted.

Ching will be FIBA president only until next year when his term expires to give way to a European representative.

The timing of the PBF affiliation is crucial because the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championships will be held in Singapore this August. The Philippines must finish top two to qualify for the FIBA-Asia Championships in Doha in September.

If the BAP is expelled in July, it will cease to function as an accrediting body for the national team. That means a new accrediting body must be in place for the national team to be cleared to play in the SEABA Championships. The danger is the PBF may not be recognized by FIBA in time for the SEABA campaign, meaning the Philippines’ participation may be jeopardized.

In fact, there’s a FIBA-Asia Championships for women this month in China and the Philippine team will require accreditation to participate. Although the BAP is under suspension and still not expelled by the POC, it may accredit the team in the same way it continued to operate in organizing the recent FIBA-Asia Champions Cup here.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala said lawyer Ding Tanjuatco prepared the PBF Constitution and By-Laws and forwarded the documents to him and legal counsel Melvin Mendoza for study.

"We’re on the right track," said Eala.

The PBF assembles basketball’s major stakeholders under a unified umbrella organization.

In the US, the Amateur Basketball Association of the USA (ABAUSA) was supplanted by USA Basketball to pool the resources of both the amateur and professional ranks in representing the country in international competitions. The ABAUSA used to be dominated by amateur league despots who denied participation from the National Basketball Association (NBA). When FIBA adopted the open policy, the ABAUSA realized its irrelevance and metamorphosed into USA Basketball with the NBA’s prime participation.

What is happening to the BAP and PBF mirrors the US experience.

It’s expected that the PBF president and secretary-general will come from the ranks of the incorporators.

But wait, there’s news that the BAP hasn’t given up the fight and is poised to sue the POC for abuse of discretion. When will this fighting finally end? The country is the victim in this sordid state of affairs.