Seemingly, Philip Ella Juico doesn’t listen to reason anymore.
First, he kicked EJ Obiena out of the Hanoi SEA Games in May.
Why is that? Isn’t that as crazy as Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine?
For one, Obiena is the defending pole vault champion, having won the gold medal in the 2019 Manila SEA Games with aplomb and singular excellence.
For another, Obiena is currently ranked fifth best pole vault performer in the world, which is a distinction that puts him way ahead of his SEA Games rivals. He had just cemented his ranking by winning two gold medals in Poland and one silver medal in France only a while back.
And Juico takes no cognizance of those screaming feats?
C’mon, Popoy, wake up.
We are not playing toddler games here.
Look, Obiena was set to pursue his European campaign this season but here you are, embracing the despicable villain’s role again by blocking his path.
Why deny him your federation’s endorsement of Obiena’s scheduled stint in Serbia?
Yes, you have a rotten rift with Obiena—rotten because you keep nurturing it to the detriment of Philippine sports. But is that enough reason to stop Obiena’s noble dream of giving more honors to his country?
Juico getting personal?
As I keep saying, athletes win medals and not officials.
While Obiena keeps that winning passion forever burning in his heart despite the mental wars he’d been battling, you keep doing the opposite: unsupportive and keeping your unpalatable position as anti-athlete, anti-achievement, anti-sports.
It’s not healthy anymore.
Sports official fighting his own athlete instead of sports official inspiring his athlete.
Sports official stopping his own athlete to win medals instead of sports official egging his athlete to aim even for the stars.
Sports official pinning down his own athlete instead of sports official uplifting his athlete’s spirits.
But no.
What we’ve been seeing all this time is Juico trying his best to corner Obiena over some petty paperwork that allegedly led to Obiena mishandling liquidation of salaries due to Vitaly Petrov, Obiena’s Ukrainian coach. But hasn’t Petrov submitted to Juico an affidavit, absolutely clearing Obiena of any wrongdoing?
Putin must be enjoying this insanity.