Norwood lacks requirements for annual draft

The PBA will not relax or bend existing rules on Fil-foreign players to accommodate Gabe Norwood.

The PBA board agreed yesterday to stick with their old requirements, requiring Fil-foreign players, among others, to submit a Department of Justice clearance to become eligible for the 2008 PBA Rookie Draft set Aug. 31.

Norwood, through his agent Mark Chan, applied for the coming draft, without the assurance he would be able to secure the required documents.

Norwood beat the deadline for application among Fil-foreign players but his agent submitting only his Philippine passport and an immigration certificate showing the player is not in the bureau’s blacklist and watch list records.

The versatile 6-foot-5 player needed only the Philippine passport as his clearance to play for the RP team in the Fiba-Asia Olympic qualifier in Tokushima, Japan last year.

To be able to join the PBA draft pool, Norwood needs to back up his claim to Filipino citizenship with immigration certification and Department of Justice clearance. – Nelson Beltran