|
Friday, September 08, 2006
Mixed martial arts ‘needs ordinance’
Cebu City Councilor Jack Jakosalem wants to regulate mixed martial arts, which is fast becoming popular in the city.
Jakosalem said the sports needs a city ordinance that will provide guidelines, penalties and safety measures, as well as sanction matches and prohibit betting.
"This is the very first time that the City will make an ordinance for a sport. This is because it does not have a regulating body, like the NSAs of the other sporting event that formulate the by-laws of each sport," said Jakosalem, the council's head of the committee on sports.
Yesterday, he met with Dino Tormis, one of the incorporators of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Entertainment Inc., to help him draft the ordinance.
Underground
Jakosalem considered the ordinance as urgent, after learning that underground matches in Manila involve unbridled betting and fighters come out with more than just broken jaws.
MMAs have submission rules where a fighter can verbally surrender or tap out to signal submission. But with the underground fights, the sport can turn deadly, Jakosalem said.
Originally, Tormis' group requested that the city create a body sanctioned by the Cebu City Sports Commission that will penalize anyone who will break the rules.
Jakosalem, however, suggested that it is better instead to create an ordinance so the city can penalize anyone who violates it.
Safety
"Our primary concern really is the safety of the fighters. We basically touched on the safety factors of the sport," Jakosalem said.
He said that betting and unauthorized matches will not be allowed.
On top of the provisions cited in the draft made by Tormis and his group, Jakosalem said they will be requiring an ambulance during matches with accredited doctors on the side.
Also, fighters should at least be 18 years old and should not exceed 40.
"It is just a precautionary measure, because they said someone over 40 died in a match," he said.
"They already have tournament rules and these will just be incorporated in the ordinance," Jakosalem added.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 8, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
