POC assured of PBA support

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose Cojuangco Jr. said yesterday he has been assured that the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will support the national team sanctioned by the Philippine Basketball Federation (PBF) once it is recognized as the country affiliate of the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA).

The PBA signed a memorandum of agreement with the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) before it was suspended and later expelled as the National Sports Association (NSA) for basketball by the POC General Assembly last June.

The PBF was subsequently recognized as the new NSA for basketball by the POC and sought FIBA affiliation but was turned down by FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann.

Cojuangco is set to meet with Baumann at the FIBA headquarters in Geneva next week. He will be accompanied by POC chairman Robert Aventajado and legal counsel Emigdio (Ding) Tanjuatco. Both Cojuangco and Tanjuatco are former congressmen. The meeting is scheduled Thursday morning.

Cojuangco said when Baumann came to Manila in 2001, he suggested amending the BAP by-laws because of provisions that perpetuated incumbent officials in office.

"We hope to explain to Mr. Baumann that the PBF is the answer to the problem," Cojuangco went on. "We want to assure him that the major stakeholders are with the PBF and the PBA will support it once FIBA gives its recognition. My first cousin (San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo Cojuangco) owns four PBA teams and I think I can count on his support. We will also brief Mr. Baumann on the PBF’s regional programs which are comprehensive and nationwide."

Cojuangco said he suspects FIBA has been misled by information from the BAP.

"Maybe, FIBA has been hearing only one side," said Cojuangco. "We’re going to Geneva to present the other side."

Cojuangco said the objectives of the mission are for FIBA to lift the Philippines’ suspension from participating in its supervised competitions such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, for FIBA to recognize the PBF as its new country affiliate and for FIBA to allocate a wild card ticket for the Philippines at the World Championships in Saitama next year.

Cojuangco said several National Olympic Committee presidents from various countries are backing the POC’s stand on the PBF.

FIBA-Oceania president Bob Elphinston of Australia has reportedly given his unconditional support to Cojuangco. Elphinston is the leading candidate to succeed Carl Men Ky Ching of Hong Kong as FIBA president in the elections next year.

POC spokesman Joey Romasanta, meanwhile, said he has high hopes the mission will be successful.

"I’m optimistic," said Romasanta. "I don’t think the positions of both the POC president and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) representative in the Philippines (Frank Elizalde) can be ignored. Without recognition by the POC and the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission), the BAP is a non-entity."

Romasanta said withdrawing the POC’s recognition of the PBF as the NSA for basketball is not an option. "That cannot be undone," he continued. "The suggestion of reorganizing the BAP and working around it is not an option either."

Romasanta said the issue boils down to a marketing equation. "I hope that after the meeting, FIBA will appreciate the PBF’s position of strength because of its support from the POC and PSC," he added. "The key to the development of basketball in the country now lies with the PBF, not the BAP. The PBF has the backing of the major stakeholders to make things happen."

In Baumann’s letter to Cojuangco, he said, "Given the importance of (basketball) in your country, such a process (unifying the major stakeholders) could certainly be led and coordinated by the POC and may result in either integrating everyone into the existing federative structure of the BAP and modifying it as needed or creating a new one, as appropriate."

In the same letter, Baumann left the door open for the POC "for any meeting at our headquarters should you wish so."

POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros said Baumann’s invitation to visit the FIBA office in Geneva was a sign that the decision to reject the PBF’s application is not final.