POC suspends tennis, athletics NSAs

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) executive board has suspended the national sports associations for athletics and tennis and will directly supervise the two federations’ national teams.

Suspended for 90 days were the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) and the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta).

POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino hopes the suspensions will ensure the participations of pole vault star EJ Obiena and tennis ace Alex Eala in the SEA Games in Vietnam this May.

The suspension is expected to be ratified by the general assembly on March 30, after which the POC will have direct supervision over national teams of athletics and tennis, skirting the need for athletes to secure endorsement from their NSAs.

Philta was found not complying with the directive of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to amend the Philta constitution and by-laws and hold an election that would include the warring major stakeholders in the sport.

Patafa, meanwhile, was suspended primarily due to its falling out with Obiena.

“The non-endorsement of EJ created a national issue. EJ Obiena, under our International Olympic Committee Charter, has two reasons to be endorsed—sports merit and inspiration to the youth,” said Tolentino.

Patafa excluded Obiena, world no. 5 vaulter, from its official lineup to the SEA Games on May 12 to 23 pending the resolution of the mediation of both parties being facilitated by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Without the endorsement, Obiena skipped the world indoor championships in Belgrade, Serbia, and also the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, come July and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September.

Once the suspension is ratified, Obiena can defend his title in the SEA Games, and participate in the other major international tournaments as well.

On tennis, Tolentino said he doesn’t want the 16-year-old Eala, the No. 2 ranked ITF junior in the world, to lose the opportunity to officially represent the country in international meets just because Philta got suspended by the ITF in 2020.

Philta has been serving a two-year suspension by the ITF since late 2020 and the sanction could be extended unless the NSA complies with the ITF directives.

“Patafa prioritized its pride, and it saddens me to look closely on a chance slowly [slipping] away. They withheld an opportunity of the Filipino people to have another world record,” said Tolentino.

“These suspensions are actually not a landmark decision by the POC,” said Tolentino. “We have at least two precedents when similar athlete-NSA issues rocked Philippine sports in the past.”

Former Asian sprint queen Lydia de Vega, excluded by the Patafa, was endorsed by the POC, then under the late Gov. Jose Sering, for her participation in the Asean Cup.

The late Leopoldo Serantes won a boxing bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after the POC endorsed his participation while the boxing association was experiencing leadership intramurals between Roilo Golez and Mel Lopez.

The latest suspensions were meted a day after Sen. Pia Cayetano led the filing of a motion to cite Patafa in contempt for disobeying the Senate Committee on Sports’ order for the federation to amicably settle its differences with Obiena.

Cayetano’s contempt motion came after Patafa chief Philip Ella Juico filed a letter of appeal with the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).