Alas, officials under fire; venue unconfirmed

MANILA, Philippines - Letran coach Louie Alas faces suspension for misconduct in Game Two of the NCAA finals even as the league scrambles to salvage a date and venue for the deciding Game Three after failing to make Thursday reservations with Smart Araneta Coliseum.

According to the NCAA media bureau, Alas might be suspended for one game for making a “slit-throat” gesture at game officials apparently in disgust of officiating in Game Two last Saturday.

The Knights, however, went on to fashion out a 64-55 victory to force a sudden death in their best-of-three series. San Beda took the opener, 62-60, at the MOA Arena last week.

“I’m sorry but I can’t comment on this at the moment, I hope you understand,” said Alas when pressed to comment on a report where he would also be asked to issue a public apology to escape suspension.

The STAR tried to get an official statement from league commissioner Joe Lipa, who, however, said that it will be Mancom chair Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, of Season 88 host Letran who will issue a statement.

“Please talk to Fr. Vic (Calvo),” said Lipa.

But Calvo also declined to comment on the incident since Alas is also from Letran.

Technical committee head Romy Guevarra was also dragged into the issue after a video grab which went viral on social media networks like Twitter showed him giving Alas a “dirty finger” sign right after the Knights sealed the victory.

Lipa, however, may also inhibit on making a decision on the issue since Guevarra is a member of the technical committee which he heads, leaving the Mancom to decide on the veteran official’s fate.

This developed as the league tries to schedule Game Three either on Wednesday or Friday after it was told that the Big Dome will not be available on Thursday for a cockfighting event.

“The board was expecting all along that the Big Dome is available on Oct. 25 but it turned out the league has no reservations,” the source told The STAR. “So we were forced to give it up because there will be cockfighting during that day.”

“It will be up to Fr. Vic  really. Friday is probably the more ideal because Wednesday will give the league too little time to sell tickets,” added the same source.