POC seeks last-minute inclusion of 3 athletes

MANILA, Philippines - Settling the accreditation problems of three Asian Games-bound athletes, namely taekwondo jin Jeffrey Figueroa and Fil-Am basketball players Sol Mercado and Chris Lutz, will be the first order of business for the advanced party that Team Philippines sent to Guangzhou, China yesterday.

Chef de mission Joey Romasanta said the contingent headed by Moying Martelino will attend the delegation registration meeting (DRM) set today in Guangzhou and will use the occasion to finalize the participation papers of the 188 Pinoy athletes, especially the three who have yet to be accredited.

Featherweight bet Figueroa has actually received his pre-valid identification card from the Guangzhou organizers but it bears the wrong photograph, that of Nicole Mapilisan. Flyweight Mapilisan has been pulled out of the Asiad last September after suffering an ACL injury and has been replaced by Paul Romero.

Mercado and Lutz are late additions to the Gilas Pilipinas quintet, having secured their Phl passports only last month.

“We’re doing it two ways: Moying (Martelino) will take it up with the organizers during the DRM and we’ll help them secure regular visa from the Chinese embassy (so they can go to China without the pre-valid IDs yet),” Romasanta told The STAR yesterday.

Romasanta said Figueroa will apply for a Chinese visa first thing in the morning today, armed with endorsement from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). The jin will head to China on Nov. 11.

“It’s good that they (taekwondo team) immediately noticed the mix-up in photographs while we’re still here (and have time to seek a solution),” he said.

PBA player Mercado and US-based cager Lutz have no pre-valid IDs yet but Martelino has earlier said he was informed by the Guangzhou organizers themselves that they were already processing the two players’ accreditation. It would have to be picked up in China, though.

Still, Lutz and Mercado secured their Chinese visas in order to join the Gilas team that will depart for Guangzhou ahead of the delegation on Nov. 9. They will play tune-up games with two teams from the Chinese Basketball Association prior to the Asiad’s opening on Nov. 12.