Antonio ban stays - NCFP

MANILA, Philippines - The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) stood pat on its decision to drop GM Joey Antonio from the five-man national team competing in the World Chess Olympiad set Sept. 21-Oct. 3 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

NCFP president Prospero Pichay has appointed IM Richard Bitoon to take the place of Antonio, who was stripped of his slot in the team for failure to play in the recent Pichay Cup and the first Florencio Campomanes Cup.

Pichay made the disclosure in reaction to published reports that Antonio is planning to sue Pichay and the NCFP for arbitrarily removing him from the RP squad.

GMs Wesley So and John Paul Gomez head the RP team to the Olympiad along with fellow GMs Darwin Laylo and EugeneTorre and Bitoon.

Antonio’s name was also removed the national team set to see action in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China as well as from the list of chess players receiving allowances from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Pichay clarified that the Campomanes Cup and the Pichay Cup were two of the major tournaments hosted by the NCFP and that even foreign participants were surprised over the absence of the country’s No. 2 player, who decided to skip the tournament and compete in the US.

In an email, Antonio’s lawyer, Sammy Estimo, said they will challenge the decision of Pichay and the NCFP because he (Antonio) was not given the chance to defend himself before the NCFP Internal Affairs Committee after the proper notice has been served.

Estimo also said that Antonio is a valuable member of the Philippine team in Chess Olympiads.

In four previous Olympiads, Antonio never lost a game to foreign opponents. But in the last staging of this event held in Dresden, Germany in 2008, Antonio and Torre opted to stay out of the team because of faulty elimination rules imposed by the NCFP.