SANCTIONS and even a potential Premier Volleyball League ban now hang over Alohi Robins-Hardy’s head if she’ll stick to her ‘Farm Fresh or nothing’ stand.
PVL president Ricky Palou made it clear that Alohi's statement that she won't play for a PVL team that drafts him other than Farm Fresh, issued through Strong Group Athletics (SGA) on Monday evening, won’t be taken lightly.
READ Alohi vows to go home if a PVL team other than Farm Fresh drafts her
"We will not allow that. She cannot choose the team that she wants to play for. She needs to go through the draft,” said Palou at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.
“If another team decides to draft her and she says she refuses to play for that particular team, there will be sanctions.
“We still need to discuss what sanctions we will impose because once you go to the draft and a team wants you, you have to play for that team or you won't play at all."
While league officials will soon convene on how to deal with Robins-Hardy's comment, PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo bared one specific consequence as per league rules if she refuses to honor being drafted by a team other than the Foxies.
"In case na she gets drafted naman by another team, and decides not to play for that team, either at least for the next three years, [bawal na siya maglaro sa PVL] or hindi na talaga siya maglalaro sa Pilipinas," Malonzo explained.
SGA, which runs both Farm Fresh and Zus Coffee in the PVL, tried to tap Robins-Hardy to play for Farm Fresh last season but failed since the US-based player needed to go through the draft to be eligible.
The Foxies instead signed Robins-Hardy as an assistant-coach.
Alohi's statement issued through SGA on Monday night came as a surprise since the player was expected to be available for Farm Fresh at No. 3 overall, since both Capital1 and Galeries Tower have other players in their sights.
Tha is, unless Farm Fresh plans to get another player at No. 3 and draft Alohi in the succeeding rounds.
READ PVL stays firm on Alohi Robins-Hardy eligibility ruling
“I’m worried for Farm Fresh na kapag dinraft siya ng ibang team, kung ‘di siya kinuha ng first round tapos kinuha siya ng ibang team bago matapos yung first round o bago umabot ulit sa second round kay Farm Fresh, sayang kasi kung di magkasundo sa kontrata, di rin maglalaro si Alohi. Sayang yung whatever contract deal na meron sila ng Farm Fresh,” Malonzo said.
“Yun naman ang nakikita kong disadvantage kay Farm Fresh kung di nila kukunin ng first round [si Alohi]. Right now, kailangan namin pag-usapan as a group kasi this is something new. We need to discuss first internally on how to manage this.”
Part of that upcoming meeting is how the PVL will handle the worst-case scenario of Robins-Hardy leaving a non-Foxies team that might draft her and if her statement per se warrants a separate sanction.
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