ATENEO team manager Epok Quimpo has called on the UAAP to take measures to protect players and teams during incidents similar to last Saturday's commotion involving former Batangas vice governor Mark Leviste.
Speaking a day after La Salle beat Ateneo, 67-65, in Game One of the UAAP Season 79 men's basketball finals, Quimpo said any fan who approaches either bench 'with aggression' should be taken out of the stadium.
“I think any fan who approaches the bench with aggression should be escorted out by the guards, whether it’s from the green or blue side," said Quimpo in a statement released to media outlets.
“If this will not be addressed by the officials, there’s a big chance that this will happen again,” said Quimpo.
[See Commotion behind Ateneo bench involving Mark Leviste mars Game One]
Leviste, a La Salle supporter, charged towards the Ateneo bench to confront one of the members of the Ateneo coaching staff who he claimed was giving Green Archers slotman Ben Mbala the dirty finger.
He was later pacified by cooler heads.
Quimpo lamented Leviste’s act, saying that the rivalry game should be about both teams, not a single person.
“This is Ateneo-La Salle, let the teams play their best, let the tradition continue where sportsmanship, class, and respect is shared by the schools," Quimpo, a former Ateneo player, said.
"It’s never about a person seeking attention and pretending he is a model Archer. I’m sure he is not,” he added.
In a statement posted on social media, Leviste claimed the member of the coaching staff asked him to go down 'so I did.'
"I don't know him, and he probably doesn't know me to start a fight with me," he said.
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