Uichico faces sanction for tirade on officiating

MANILA, Philippines – Talk n Text coach Jong Uichico faces possible sanction for a statement made after Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup Final Four faceoff with San Miguel Beer deemed by many as detrimental to the league.

“A summon (from commissioner Chito Salud) is forthcoming,” said PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial.

Uichico expressed disappointment on the officiating and was quoted as saying “it’s a given when you’re playing the San Miguel group. I’ve been there.”

Smart/PLDT top boss Manny V. Pangilinan himself didn’t like how the officiating went Sunday night, saying on his Twitter account: "We can't win these games with bad referee calls."

San Miguel Beer team manager Robert Non took exception to the comment of Uichico, and called on the league commissioner to look into the accusation.

“I am calling on Commissioner Salud to look into these unfounded accusations of Coach Uichico in the spirit of sportsmanship that is one of the cornerstones of any sport. In San Miguel, we take pride in doing our business in a manner that is just, fair and transparent, more so in sports,” said Non in a statement. 

Non said he’s surprised with Uichico’s insinuation that the referees allegedly favored San Miguel, a team Uichico steered to six championships.

“Normally, I would not respond to such accusations, but coming from coach Jong Uichico, who was many-time champion coach from his previous teams and a national coach at that, I find his comments unbecoming of a coach of his stature,” said Non.

“To set the facts straight, any basketball fan knows that San Miguel won both Games One and Two fair and square. And who else to be blamed on TNT side, obviously it’s not the referees but their coach (Jong) who seems at a loss on how his team was beaten twice,” Non further said.

“Finding solace in blaming the referees is a lame excuse.  He should know better that a game is won not by intimidating the officials but preparing your team well.  Obviously he wasn’t able to do his part in that respect,” Non added.

The SMB team manager and governor also hit back at TNT, mentioning “dirty” plays where San Miguel players were at the receiving end.

“Playing physical is allowed in the PBA, but not dirty. If you were able to watch (Game Two), you can see how they obviously ganged up on Junmar and employed dirty tactics,” said Non. 

“More fouls should have been called on TNT in Game Two. They tried pulling the jersey of Junmar, poking a finger on (Marcio) Lassiter, tripping (Ronald) Tubid in the sideline and other hard fouls by their players. In Game One, Ranidel de Ocampo almost cost Arwind Santos his playing career with his unsportsmanlike foul as Santos was about to go down after a dunk,” Non added.

Non also mentioned victories by Talk n Text and Meralco over Barangay Ginebra and Purefoods, and he said they never complained about officiating.

“Talk ‘n Text won several championships in the past and we never accused them of being favored by the referees,” Non said.