THE transfer of Choco Mucho pair Bea De Leon and Denden Lazaro-Revilla to Creamline will be one of the last transactions between sister teams to be allowed by the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).
PVL chief Ricky Palou made this assurance as he and fellow officials lay the groundwork for wholesale rules changes designed to bring stability to the pioneering volleyball league amid a phenomenal growth in popularity.
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Among the key rules changes are the implementation of a rookie draft and a salary cap as well as a ban on transactions between sister teams, which Palou said is crucial now that the league has no less than three pairs of teams belonging to the same owners, with a fourth on the way.
Aside from originals Creamline and Choco Mucho, which are both under the umbrella of Rebisco of longtime volleyball patron Jonathan Ng, the PVL now has two other sister clubs in PLDT and Cignal HD as well as Akari and Nxled.
A fourth pair of PVL teams belonging to the same company is expected to debut once the new season unfolds in February with the owners of Farm Fresh expected to add the former Gerflor franchise to the stable.
As seen from the PBA experience, managing multiple ownerships can be tricky.
In the league's early years, the PBA board, apparently seeing the threat that multiple ownership posed to league parity, has put rules in place to make sure collaborations between sister teams do not happen, banning the trading of players or the appointment of common officials.
READ: PVL plans rookie draft, salary cap for 2024 season
But over the years, loopholes have led to wanton violations of the rules.
Now Palou, who served as one of the key officials of the PBA during the term of the late Jun Bernardino, vowed to do everything to make sure the same do not happen in the fast-rising pro volleyball league.
Palou acknowledged that there are no PVL rules in place to stop De Leon and Lazaro-Revilla's transfer from Choco Mucho to Creamline, but assured that "in the future, there will be surely be no trades between sister teams."
The no-trade rule, Palou said, should be in place by June or July, by which time he expects the league to have institutionalized a rookie draft as well as a salary cap, both for teams and individual players.
Asked why the raft of changes were scheduled in June and not the start of the new PVL season in February, Palou said: "We looked at June and July because the school leagues would be over by then, a good timing for our draft system to start.
"So we decided to implement all other new rules at the same time."
The changes do not end with the rookie draft, salary cap, and no-trade rule among sister teams. The PVL, Palou swore, again learning from the PBA experience, will also ban the trading of top draft picks, for a period of at least two years.
'No selling of players'
"The purpose of the draft is to maintain league parity. So I want the teams to hold on to their [top picks]," he said. "There will be no selling of players. And if these players will eventually be traded, we'll make sure it will be fair trades."
Palou assured league officials will hold consultations with team owners in the months before all these new rules will come into effect.
'Before we finalize any rules we want to implement, we present these to the teams for their comments and suggestions," Palou said. "Once everything is in place, the PVL will unilaterally enforce all of these changes."
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