In the nick of time

SEOUL — The meeting with Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) secretary-general Patrick Baumann was set for 6 at the Grand Café on the first floor of the Grand Intercontinental Hotel here Tuesday night.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and legal counsel Egmidio Tanjuatco were in the cast to discuss the country’s suspension by FIBA with Baumann. So were representatives of four major cage stakeholders.

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) chairman Ely Capacio and commissioner Noli Eala, along with Philippine Basketball League (PBL) commissioner Chino Trinidad, were scheduled to plane in from Manila via Korean Air Lines at about 4 that afternoon. They had two hours–more than enough time–to make their way to the meeting place.

PBA vice chairman Ricky Vargas flew in from Singapore on a business trip last Sunday and confirmed his attendance. University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Board of Trustees member Jose (Jun-Jun) Capistrano of Ateneo and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) vice chairman Efren Jose (Paul) Supan of Jose Rizal University arrived Monday afternoon and also confirmed their attendance.

POC first vice president Rep. Monico Puentevella initially begged off from attending the meeting because he was booked to fly back home Tuesday night to catch the Congress session the next day before the Lower House broke up for recess. But Puentevella was persuaded to stay for the meeting. He had a key role to play in the convincing process. Puentevella’s presence was vital because of the impact he made in speaking out for the protection of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) against overstepping International Sports Federations (ISFs) at the Association of NOCs (ANOC) convention the other day. As an incumbent Congressman, Puentevella also represented the Philippine government in the meeting with Baumann.

Cojuangco, Puentevella, Hontiveros and Tanjuatco waited in a private room for Baumann whom his secretary Aldo Vitale said would be late because of an extended discussion in a previous meeting.

Vargas, Capistrano and Supan showed up on time. Capistrano and Supan came from the World Cup museum and Itaewon where they boarded a subway en route to the Grand Intercontinental Hotel.

The problem was Capacio, Eala and Trinidad were nowhere around. It was later found out their flight was delayed out of Manila and they landed at the Incheon International Airport past 5. After their passports were stamped by immigration authorities, they picked up their bags and rented a van to go straight to the meeting place.

Baumann and incoming FIBA president Bob Elphinston of Australia walked in the room at about 6:30 p.m.

Elphinston’s election will be formalized at the next FIBA Congress in Japan this August. He succeeds Carl Ching Men-Ky of Hong Kong. His claim to fame was doing a yeoman’s job as general manager of the Sydney Olympics Organizing Committee in 2000. A founding member of Australia’s National Basketball League, Elphinston was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 2002 for his efforts in contributing to the Sydney Olympics success.

At 7:15 p.m., Trinidad phoned Hontiveros from a van about 10 minutes away from the hotel. Will they still reach Baumann, he asked. Hontiveros said the meeting was just warming up. At 7:30 p.m., Capacio, Eala and Trinidad met Baumann and Elphinston for the first time.

The meeting lasted two hours and 15 minutes. An hour before it ended, Vitale tried to get Baumann to leave because of a dinner appointment. But Baumann knew how important the meeting was and didn’t want to adjourn until there was a clear direction as to the path to take in lifting the country’s suspension.

As expected, Eala and Baumann hit it off because they have a lot of things in common–they’re both lawyers and madly in love with the game. Elphinston and Cojuangco have a common close friend John O’Brien, the Australian owner of the Newcastle Monarchs pro basketball club.

After Baumann and Elphinston left, the Philippine group convened to assess the situation. The consensus was things were in motion to eventually lift the country’s suspension and it was worth the trouble of flying here to personally meet Baumann.

In a fitting cap to a long day, Cojuangco treated the delegation to dinner. Everyone was scheduled to leave for Manila the next day except for Hontiveros, who still had official meetings to attend, and Capistrano, who planned to check out the sports programs of selected Seoul schools.

Trinidad had the toughest schedule. He was booked to take the early morning flight to be able to reach his son’s grade school graduation that afternoon. The others left on the late night flight to Manila.

Cojuangco said his four-day visit couldn’t have been more productive. The highlight was the private 45-minute session with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge where he expressed full support for the POC’s efforts to develop Philippine sports and its crusade to lift the country’s FIBA suspension.

Cojuangco also attended the ANOC convention and got to know several IOC bigwigs.

Then there were the two meetings with Baumann. First was the one-hour meeting last Tuesday afternoon when Cojuangco, Puentevella, Hontiveros and Tanjuatco took up the suspension order with Baumann, FIBA secretary-general emeritus Borislav Stankovic and Ching. Then came the two-hour and 15-minute session with Baumann and Elphinston that night.

Although the suspension has not been lifted, Cojuangco said the road to liberation is now clearing up.