MANILA, Philippines — It would be better now to bring the leadership crisis in cycling to the Court of Arbitration (CA) in Sport in Switzerland, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) said Thursday. Citing the effect of the feud is starting to cascade down to the athletes, POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco said the warring parties “must stir down and come up with a fast solution.”
“Para matapos na, dalhin na lang nila sa Court of Arbitration. Mahirap na yan, atleta na ang naiipit,” Cojuangco said in a radio interview.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) echoed the same sentiment and chairman Richie Garcia made the assurance that as soon as everything is resolved, the agency will be ready to extend financial assistance.
“They should go beyond their personal interests and solve the problem early para matulungan agad ang mga atleta. Kami naman, handa kaming suportahan ang mga atleta kung sino talaga ang recognized ng POC,” Garcia said in the same session.
The PSC suspended the monthly allowances of national cyclists and coaches in a resolution which took effect last Monday.
One group is headed by Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino, while the other faction has Philip Juico as its president.
SEAG events
Meanwhile, the final composition of the events and sports to be played in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia will be determined on Feb. 25 when the organizing committee meets with sports leaders of the ten other nations in the resort city of Bali.
According to the Indonesian media, the organizers will also take the opportunity to report on the progress of the preparations for the sportsfest scheduled Nov. 11 to 25 in the main city of Palembang and the capital of Jakarta.
It will be proposed in the Bali meeting that 536 events in 43 sports will be played in the SEAG, including non-traditional ones like roller-skating, wall-climbing and even bridge, which is a popular card game.
The hosts are proposing that high number of events in their effort to run away with the most gold medals, a feat they last achieved when Jakarta hosted the biennial meet in 1997.
The POC will be represented in Bali by Cojuangco, who had been widely quoted that the Philippines will make a serious bid to break the hearts of the Indonesians.
Nick Giongco & Kristel Satumbaga, Manila Bulletin
