The PVL was a victim, once again, of what it described as a 'power play' by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) hours before the opening games of its Reinforced Conference on Tuesday in Montalban, Rizal.
But this time, the PVL pushed back.
Hostaged by a 'missing' PNVF signatory needed to activate the international transfer certificates (ITC) that eventually kept its imports and Fil-foreign players out of action, the PVL didn't take the matter sitting down.
READ PVL hits out at PNVF's 'obstrusive, unprofessional actions'
The pioneering volleyball league said the PNVF non-action wasn’t a ‘procedural’ lapse, hitting out at what it described as the ‘obstructionist and unprofessional’ actons of the country's volleyball federation led by the controversial Tats Suzara.
According to the PVL statement, the PNVF was left irate by the PVL’s decision to turn down the national federation’s request to end the Reinforced Conference by Nov. 16 - or 11 days earlier than scheduled - to give Alas Pilipinas Women more prep time for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand from Dec. 9 to 20.
When the PVL proceeded with its original schedule from Oct. 7 to Nov. 27, a PNVF signatory needed to clear the PVL imports and Fil-foreigners suddenly went missing.
PVL fights back at last
The PVL has for a long time bent backwards to acceed to every PNVF request just to keep an uneasy peace between the two. But this time the PVL pushed back, never mind if the fighting words were credited to an anonymous 'league official.'
“Preparations have been made in good faith based on the schedule given to us. But then, at the last minute, the PNVF changed the terms,” the PVL official said.
“Is the PVL composed only of players in the national team? What happens to the rest of Philippine volleyball – to its growth, to its fans, to the professional clubs – if all PNVF programs are implemented unilaterally and disruptively?”
In the end, the league had to wait until the morning after its conference openers to secure the final clearance for its imports. It also had to make the difficult decision of replaying the two matches 'in the spirit of sportsmanship.'
But at the same time, the PVL showed that it will no longer stay meek in the face of constant 'bullying tactics' by the national federation that has imposed its policies and protracted international windows with an iron fist.
There is no denying that the two need to find a way to co-exist - the PVL, whether it likes it or not, must keep a relationship with the PNVF to be able to bring in imports for its reinforced conferences; the PNVF needs the PVL's players for the national team.
However, judging from the PVL's strong response to the PNVF's arm twisting, this uneasy relationship will from hereon no longer be as one-sided.
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