Wednesday, January 10, 2007 SBP leaves out BAP in pursuit of ‘basketball unity’ in country
THE lead cast of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas haS decided to push with the “reform” they wanted to make in the sport, despite the withdrawal of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) from the Fiba mandated merger.
SBP took along with them BAP ousted president Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who will stay with the newly created basketball body as the third man in the panel, together with Manny Pangilinan and Jun-jun Capistrano.
Estrada will take the seat formerly occupied by Joey Lina, while Capistrano, who is representing the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), took over the post of Bernie Atienza, of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
Difficult
Pangilinan, however, admitted that it would be more difficult now that BAP has withdrawn their participation in the unity talks. BAP, despite its expulsion from the ranks of the Philippine Olympic Committee, is still the recognized member of Fiba.
SBP will take with them as members the officials and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the Philippines Basketball League (PBL), the UAAP, the NCAA and some major leagues outside of Manila.
Estrada, will try to direct his efforts to help the SBP gain the recognition from Fiba, something that other groups, that include Pilipinas Basketball, failed to achieve.
SBP has informed Fiba about Estrada's inclusion in the panel, as the legitimate representative of BAP in the special tribunal.
Report
Following its formal existence, SBP will immediately report to Fiba secretary-general Patrick Baumann before gaining application to the POC to become a legitimate national sports association.
Once it obtains acceptance from both organizations, SBP will then task the PBA to reactivate its national selection to play in the Southeast Asian Basketball (Seaba) tournament in May and the qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics to be held in Saitama, Japan.
However, Pangilinan admitted that everything seems easier said than done, as the big battle still lies ahead. (RCM)
