PHL braces for opposition to Douthit's replacement of Blatche

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas team manager Aboy Castro leaves Thursday for Incheon, Korea ahead of the rest of the team, hoping not to face anymore problem during the team managers meeting Friday.

However, Philippine chief of mission Richie Garcia, who’s already in Incheon, isn’t ruling out protests by the opposition on Marcus Douthit’s replacement of Andray Blatche.

Medal contenders China, Iran, Japan and host Korea are reportedly poised to question Douthit’s entry in the Gilas roster on the Friday meeting.

Their contention is that Blatche’s slot could not be replaced since he’s not entitled to one in the first place. Blatche was declared ineligible for the meet since he’s yet to meet the Asiad’s three-year residency rule for naturalized players.

The Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee (IAGOC) merely accommodated Douthit as a replacement to Andray Blatche in an earlier meeting last week.

What could happen Friday is that Douthit would replace somebody else, reducing Gilas Pilipinas to an 11-man team.

In the roster are Junmar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood, Gary David, Jeff Chan, Jared Dillinger, Paul Lee, LA Tenorio and Jimmy Alapag.

Teams are allowed to make last-minute change in their roster for injury issue in the team managers’ meeting.

Gilas coach Chot Reyes finalizes his lineup before that meeting.