THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) assured EJ Obiena will be able to compete in the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games this year despite his rift with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa).
POC president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino said Obiena is part of the 80 athletes that are on its appeals list, which is not part of the 584 athletes that were on the initial list of the delegation for the SEA Games in Vietnam.
Tolentino said that even if Obiena will not be endorsed by Patafa for the SEA Games, the POC can include him since it still has jurisdiction over the delegation as provided by the International Olympic Committee charter, specifically Rule 27.
“There’s a provision in the IOC charter, nakalagay doon na the NOC is the sole authority which submits the delegation proposed by the NSA, whether NSA or what, as the final list on all Olympic, regional, continental, and all world tournaments patronized by the IOC not only on sports merits but based on if the athlete will be an inspiration of the youth,” said Tolentino during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
“We will fight for it. The NOC will fight for it,” he added.
Test case
Being a part of the appeals list, Tolentino said Obiena can be included in the final composition of the delegation and can be funded privately in the event the athlete is unable to obtain government support.
Tolentino said Obiena’s inclusion in the SEA Games should be a no-brainer being the defending champion in men’s pole vault.
“This will be a test case. Ang tanong dito sa NSA, if that athlete really has the potential, will we not endorse it just because of this brouhaha. We will deprive the athlete of whatever medal,” said Tolentino.
The rift between Obiena and Patafa has dragged on, more so after the Olympic pole vaulter decided not to participate in the Philippine Sports Commission-organized mediation as he accused Patafa of acting "in bad faith."
Before that, the Patafa has threatened to drop Obiena from the national pool and file criminal charges against him.
Tolentino said the POC respects Obiena’s decision since he is now preparing for his 2022 indoor season that will start on January 28.
Meanwhile, Tolentino said the POC general assembly will convene on Wednesday where the status of Patafa president Philip Ella Juico will be discussed.
Juico has been declared persona non-grata by the POC executive board, but that decision will have to be ratified by the general assembly.
The general assembly meeting was supposed to be held on January 12 but was postponed due to the spike in COVID-19 cases fuelled by the Omicron variant.
“It’s a process. We in the POC, sumusunod lang kami sa procedure. Since it was passed by the executive board, the next step is if the GA should ratify, overrule, or sustain,” said Tolentino.
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