MANILA, Philippines - As the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) awaits the final verdict, Filipino sports officials flew to Incheon yesterday in a final attempt to sway the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) into letting Andray Blatche in.
Richie Garcia, chef-de-mission of the Philippine contingent, boarded an afternoon flight with members of the Philippine secretariat to the Games scheduled Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.
Moying Martelino, former Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) secretary-general and currently SBP consultant, was to take a flight out of Manila a little past midnight.
While Garcia will be the point man for the Philippines, Martelino will provide the wisdom, the experience, the expertise in dealing with OCA officials and organizers of the Asian Games.
The OCA has written the SBP that Blatche is ineligible to play for Gilas in Incheon, citing its own rules requiring players born outside of Asia but wanting to play in the Asian Games a three-year residency in the country they wish to represent.
The SBP headed by Manny V. Pangilinan admitted that it could be the final decision but wanted to give the Blatche issue “one last try.”
If it fails, it may consider playing in the Asian Games with Marcus Douthit, the other naturalized Filipino player, pull out of the competition or bring the case to the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Geneva.
Playing all-Filipino in Incheon is another thing.
Martelino said the SBP won’t lose anything if they give it another try. He said the SBP sent the final letter of appeal on behalf of Blatche to OCA late Monday evening.
“I will be there to assist our chef-de-mission in the DRMs (delegation registration meetings) on Sept. 11 and 12 in case the OCA hasn’t replied yet to our appeal before we get there,” he said.
The specific instruction by the SBP brass to Martelino was simple.
“The instruction I got was that once word is out, whether it’s a yes or a no, to immediately call Ricky Vargas (SBP vice chairman) who will be the one to inform MVP (Pangilinan) about it,” Martelino.
“If it’s yes, then that’s good. If it’s no, then it’s MVP who will make the decision. The three options will only come to play if OCA says no,” the long-time ABC sec-gen told The STAR.
“The decision is MVP’s alone. It won’t come from anybody lower than him. He will make the final decision,” Martelino added.
In a press conference last Monday, Vargas hinted of Gilas’ withdrawal from the Asian Games. But news did not sit well with Pinoy hoop fans who said Gilas should play in Incheon with or without a naturalized player.
The Gilas head coach did not mention anything about any withdrawal upon his return from Spain the other day.
“My marching orders from the SBP and our management is that if Korea wants us to play all-Filipino then we will play all-Filipino,” said Chot Reyes.
Blatche saw action for Gilas in Spain for the FIBA World Cup but could not get the go-signal from OCA and the Incheon organizers.
FIBA secetary-general Patrick Baumann even wrote Incheon officials asking them to reconsider their decision barring Blatche to play.
But it fell on deaf ears.