UV to Cesafi: Allow foreign players in Partners Cup

THE University of the Visayas is appealing to the organizers of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) pre-season tournament – the Partners Cup--for the inclusion of foreign players in the two-month long tournament.

Green Lancers team manager Gerald Anthony “Sam-Sam” Gullas asked Cesafi commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy Jr. through a letter to reconsider their earlier decision to bar foreign players in the Partners Cup.

“These players are also part of the team, we need them for our preparation for the Cesafi tournament. We understand that the Partners Cup is all about giving the team the time to gel for the season and for players to get a chance to learn the system of their respective teams. So this would be a good test for all our players, local and foreign alike, to bond as a team,” Gullas told reporters.

Although, UV is yet undecided, but the consensus of the coaching staff is to forego its title defense if the foreign players won’t be allowed to play in the Partner’s Cup.

“We are still to decide. We will have a meeting once Tiukinhoy’s decision is out. But we strongly believed that if the foreign players are not allowed to play, it would be useless,” said UV head coach Felix “Donbel” Belano.