Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Issues hound Mabalacat basketball league
MABALACAT -- Some players, team officials and spectators in the on-going inter-barangay basketball league here are calling for the stoppage of the tournament due to controversies involving the imposition of a "questionable ruling."
A team was recently disqualified in the quarterfinals allegedly because of the said ruling.
Even some barangay leaders want a deferment of the remaining games in the quarterfinals in the Palarong Pambayan of the Sangguniang Kabataan in this town.
Mario Tiglao, Poblacion barangay captain, has questioned the disqualification of his team from the whole series.
Team Poblacion was banned from further playing its remaining games after its center, Gerald Bondoc, committed a flagrant foul on Poknat Sunga of the San Francisco team.
The game was stopped after Sunga was rushed to the hospital due to a broken nose bridge.
Poblacion's team and barangay leaders said league officials should have just banned Bondoc and not disqualify the entire team.
They claim that the action taken by the league organizers was baseless, as it was not stipulated in the league's rules.
With the team's disqualification due to the flagrant foul that led to the injury, league organizers are allegedly attempting to credit the remaining two games of Poblacion as wins for Barangays Sapang Biabas and Sta. Ines.
This will be highly questionable, according to Barangay San Joaquin officials, as it will render San Joaquin team out of the game.
If the ruling is imposed, Sta. Ines will bag the last and fourth slot in the next round, as they are being given a win even without playing the disqualified Poblacion.
San Joaquin barangay leaders and team officials are questioning the rule, stating that nowhere in the league's Constitution and By-Laws does it give the organizers the power to recognize a winner from a game that that has never been played.
There are also allegations that a few above-aged players and those who do not meet the residency requirement have been allowed to play in the league due to lax screening process.
An official from Barangay Sta. Ines who requested anonymity said two villages have players who are "over-aged" and who are not bona fide residents of the places they represent the league. (RGN)
