Thursday, November 01, 2007 Cesafi won’t invite UV for Partners Cup By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AFTER airing out their concerns, the University of the Visayas Green Lancers stand a chance to become an outcast in the Partners Cup, an off-season tournament of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.
Cesafi commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy said tthe organizers agreed not to invite UV to join the Partners Cup any longer—a huge gamble considering that UV, the seven-time Cesafi champion, is a big crowd drawer.
“They said that they won’t join if we can’t meet their demands. And we can’t. So, to prevent further spat, we decided not to invite them,” Tiukinhoy said yesterday.
With regard to not getting an invitation, UV head coach Elmer “Boy” Cabahug said there is no need for it.
“Because it depends really on the school if they want to join or not, as long as they are members of the Cesafi,” Cabahug added.
Cabahug is responsible for steering his powerhouse UV squad to taking all the championship titles of the Cesafi and his team is considered the strongest collegiate team in the south.
The multi-titled coach said the other day that they want the Partners Cup to correct some mistakes before their school will let their team play in the tournament.
One of the major things UV wanted was to get an assurance that if a player gets hurt while playing in the Partner’s Cup, the league will take care of the expenses. Last time, UV was burdened by the operation of Morsie Akad, one of its main protagonist, who had to skip this year’s Cesafi.
“Corporate sponsors are asked only to shoulder the expenses that will be incurred in the staging of the tournament. Since we partner with schools, we hope that the school would shoulder some of the liability,” Tiukinhoy said.
Both schools and corporate partners got television mileage when games were aired from February to August of this year.
Players’ protection
Meanwhile, Cabahug clarified and said he never asked for too much and that what he wanted was for the good of all players.
“We also need to take care of our players. What if we have another injury? This is for their protection,” Cabahug said.
Cabahug also said that the Cesafi should have a bigger chunk of the profits of the Partners Cup.
“Cesafi only got P15,000 from it. Sponsors gave P100,000 plus P50,000 plus gate receipts,” he said.
Baldomero Estenzo, the brains behind the Partners Cup, said they were not able to give anything to Cesafi because what the sponsors gave were just enough for the operational cost and that they had to shoulder some of the other costs.
Sponsors gave P100,000 as stipulated in their package, but only two of these sponsors gave P50,000 for addition television advertising when the games were being aired.
“The P50,000 went to the television station for the advertisements,” Estenzo said.
