Sunday, July 06, 2008 Basketball, volleyball in MFG
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte -- Popular team sports like basketball, volleyball, and football have been included in the roster of events for the Mindanao Friendship Games as stakeholders voted for them during the final day of the Mindanao Sports Summit at the Mindanao Civic Center here Friday.
The three sports, although not among the priority sports of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for grassroots development, were picked by the participants of the summit along with badminton and lawn tennis.
Priority events swimming, track and field, boxing, taekwondo, and chess completed the list.
Host Lanao del Norte, however, has the privilege to add one or two more sports.
Cycling, karatedo, judo, table tennis and sepak takraw, triathlon, among others, haven't been included even though these events were part of the 2003 MFG held in Mati, Davao Oriental.
MFG project director Joseph Encabo, who is also the senior executive assistant of Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William "Butch" Ramirez, said they will finalize technical details of every MFG sport when the organizing committee convenes soon.
The summit participants also agreed to hold the Games on November 10 to 15 instead of the November 29 to December 5 schedule suggested by the organizers.
But they couldn't meet eye-to-eye when the issue of residency of athletes was raised.
Encabo instead told them, "Let us follow the MFG charter that states an athlete needs 12 months of residency to be eligible to represent a particular local government unit (LGU). If he or she has a primary or secondary residence, then, the athlete can decide which LGU to represent."
The MFG was launched in 2001 here with then Governor Imelda Quibranza Dimaporo as host.
Her son, Mohammad Khalid, is now Governor of this province that boasts of a multi-million sports complex. (MLSA)
