POC group leaves for Seoul meet

A Philippine Olympic Committee delegation left yesterday for Seoul to attend the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC) meeting presided by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge and take up the country’s Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) suspension with FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel.

The POC group was made up of POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr., first vice president Rep. Monico Puentevella, secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and legal counsel Egmidio Tanjuatco

IOC representative to the Philippines Frank Elizalde arranged the Tuesday early evening session with Baumann who is in Seoul for the SportsAccord convention as FIBA representative.

The POC delegation will ask Baumann what are the next steps to take in paving the way for the lifting of the country’s suspension. The first step was the submission of the proposed Constitution and By-Laws of the new federation, Pilipinas Basketball, to FIBA for approval two weeks ago, beating the March 31 deadline.

Representatives of four of the sport’s major stakeholders will fly to Seoul on Tuesday to attend the meeting with Baumann. They are Philippine Basketball Association chairman Ely Capacio, vice chairman Ricky Vargas and commissioner Noli Eala, Philippine Basketball League (PBL) commissioner Chino Trinidad, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) representative Jun-Jun Capistrano of Ateneo and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) representative Bernie Atienza of St. Benilde.

POC spokesman Joey Romasanta said yesterday Cojuangco has high hopes that the FIBA reaction to the formation of Pilipinas Basketball will be positive because the stakeholders complied strictly with the conditions set by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the POC and FIBA last September in Geneva.

Romasanta pointed to Provision 5 in the MOU as the key condition of compliance, quoting "If and when a structure and Constitution and By-Laws acceptable to FIBA and POC are in place and the election of officers has taken place, then the new federation will be recognized by FIBA in place of BAP (Basketball Association of the Philippines) and the suspension of the Philippines from international basketball will be lifted."

While Pilipinas Basketball has identified the makeup of the 15-man Board, no election of officers has been held. The Board will be composed of six representatives from the PBA and three each from the PBL, UAAP and NCAA.

Trinidad said the membership may be expanded to 25 depending on the criteria set to accept regular, affiliate and associate members.

"We are optimistic of a favorable reaction from FIBA," said Romasanta. "It was Mr. Baumann himself who asked for a permanent solution to our leadership problem."

"We’re hoping Mr. Baumann will be convinced that our approach is the best for Philippine basketball," said Romasanta. "No one person should stand in the way of an organization to get better. The BAP may be 60 years old but if it has done nothing to deserve continuing to exist, then we should do away with it."

Romasanta said BAP president Joey Lina should realize his campaign to fight the stakeholders is a disservice to the country and a losing battle.

"Lina is threatening to go to the Council of Arbitration for Sports," said Romasanta. "Mahabang usapin ‘yan. It’s a long and expensive process. Besides, it will need two disputing parties to seek arbitration. He is asking FIBA to rescind the MOU but who is he to ask it? He represents an expelled NSA. To top it all, the major stakeholders don’t need the BAP to operate."

Romasanta cautioned Lina to desist from name-calling. "He is claiming he was deceived by the shareholders, meaning he is accusing them of deception," said Romasanta. "Does that mean the former Senator allowed himself to be fooled? Does it mean he is accusing the prominent businessmen behind the PBA and PBL and the respected educators and academicians behind the UAAP and NCAA of deception? I think despite this squabbling, there is still nobility in sports."

"Lina is crying for the BAP’s reinstatement into the POC but that’s no longer an option," said Romasanta. "Lina is a lawyer. He should know what he got himself into when he agreed to the MOU approach. Now that things are not working out for him, he wants to back out. If he stands on solid ground, the people will understand what he’s fighting for. For him to claim he was deceived doesn’t speak well of a former senator and cabinet secretary."