Chicken and egg

Here’s an interesting twist to the never-ending travails that bedevil Philippine basketball.

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has withdrawn recognition of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) in the wake of its expulsion by the General Assembly of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) as the country’s National Sports Association (NSA) for basketball.

Because of the withdrawal of recognition, the PSC ordered the BAP to vacate its office at the Rizal Memorial complex, which is under the government agency’s jurisdiction.

Clearly, the BAP has no business holding office in the PSC premises with its recognition withdrawn not only by the POC but also by the PSC.

The BAP even went to court to secure a temporary restraining order to stay its ejection but its motion was denied.

But wait. Despite the court denial of the BAP’s motion, the PSC has graciously withdrawn its eviction order. The supposed justification is since the PSC has not recognized the fledgling Philippine Basketball Federation (PBF) as the new NSA for basketball, it is deferring the eviction.

The PBF was recently recognized by the POC General Assembly as the new NSA for basketball and granted full membership in the organization.

A PSC source said the government agency will not recognize the PBF as the new NSA for basketball until and unless it is accepted as the country affiliate of FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball). At the same time, the PSC will not recognize the BAP because of its expulsion by the POC.

If you ask me, the PSC’s decision not to evict the BAP smacks of wishy-washiness.

The rub is the POC was banking on the PSC’s recognition of the PBF to support its appeal for FIBA recognition. So it’s a chicken and egg situation.

Because of the leadership crisis stemming from the quarrel between the BAP and PBF, FIBA has suspended the Philippines indefinitely from participating in all its sanctioned competitions, including the FIBA-Asia Championships, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Asian Games.

The suspension disqualified the Philippines from competing in the recent Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) qualifying tournament for the coming FIBA-Asia Championships in Doha. If the suspension is not lifted, the Philippine basketball team will be barred from playing in the SEA Games here late this year.

Someone whispered that the PSC held back on evicting the BAP because it was threatened by a case before the Ombudsman.

If that’s true, what is the PSC afraid of? Is it hiding something the Ombudsman might uncover? Why can’t the PSC stick to principles instead of agree to a compromise under threat of a court suit?

"Anyway, all the Rizal Memorial offices will be vacated soon and transferred to the PhilSports complex," said an insider. "So the PSC opted not to rock the boat."

However, a POC source said the PSC’s delay of recognizing the PBF as the NSA for basketball will not slow down the process of applying for FIBA affiliation.

"It’s more than sufficient that the PSC has withdrawn recognition of the BAP as the NSA for basketball following its expulsion by the POC General Assembly," said the source.

Of course, the BAP will block any attempt by the PBF to make headway in its application for FIBA affiliation. And that’s the sad part of this story because the country is the victim of vicious backstabbing among Filipinos. For as long as the BAP and PBF are at odds, it appears that the FIBA suspension will remain.

Far Eastern University team owner Anton Montinola, a former University Athletic Association of the Philippines president and a supporter of what is good for Philippine hoops, said the PBF’s recognition by FIBA would be the final step to put the country’s basketball program back on track.

It is the fear of some sectors that FIBA will desist from acting as mediator in the war between the BAP and PBF because in an impasse, the BAP prevails and the country suffers. FIBA may choose to ignore the Philippine crisis until the PBF and BAP resolve their differences.

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