Unity in sports

It appears that while the POC elections are over, the fight is far from finished with the battleground shifting to the courtroom. A TRO to stop the polls was denied but the case has been raffled to a judge and the proponent Bob Bachmann is pursuing the position against newly-reelected POC president Mayor Bambol Tolentino.

“The General Assembly deserves whom they voted for,” said Bachmann. “I will focus on squash and finish the unresolved issues of POC, including the TRO turned civil case.” IOC frowns on government intervention in the affairs of a National Olympic Committee and dragging the courts to adjudicate a complaint against Tolentino isn’t welcome news to the international body.

The voting for president wasn’t close. Tolentino won overwhelmingly over Chito Loyzaga, 45 to 15, in the elections last Nov. 29. The majority of the General Assembly has spoken and Tolentino promised to continue leading the way to bring more honor and glory to the country while taking care of athletes. Both Loyzaga and Bachmann said they’ll focus on the sports they manage so their message is let’s move forward. However, the resolve to bring Tolentino to court has to be rethought. Surely, differences can be threshed out on the discussion table in the spirit of Olympism. If unity for athletes is what everyone is aiming for, then why not come to terms like sportsmen?

In a recent interview on SEAG Live, Tolentino spoke about politics in sports. “Laging mainit ‘yan,” he said. “Iba ang politics sa sports. I’ve been in politics. ‘Yung sports mas masalimuot, mas complicated. You’re dealing with different kinds of personalities. Mabigat ang politics in sports. Kahit ako they filed for disqualification. Nag-hearing kami. All the cases (were) represented by lawyers pero ‘yung sa akin, ako na ang nagsalita as respondent. Opening statement ko, I’m more than qualified. Ako nga ang presidente ngayon. Bakit naman ako magiging not qualified?”

Tolentino predicted there would be 15 NSAs voting against him. Sure enough, there were 15 in the final tally. Before the elections, the General Assembly was convened and ratified the inclusion of cricket, flag football and curling as regular NSAs to bump up the voting roster to 61, including IOC member Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and athlete representatives EJ Obiena and Nesthy Petecio. Obiena flew in from his Italy base to cast his vote. Tolentino said the three new regular members were accredited in accordance with a letter from IOC approving their inclusion in the Winter Olympic and 2028 LA Olympic programs.

The POC directory now lists 58 regular, seven associate and 12 recognized members. The associate members include arnis, duckpin bowling, polo and powerlifting while the recognized members include fin swimming, American tackle football, sikaran, floorball, bodybuilding and rugby league. With the growing population of NSAs, now, more than ever, unity in sports for athletes is a clamor that must be heeded.