Look who's talking!

The 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) are about to end, and it looks like the Philippines is on its way to winning the over-all championship.

But this doesn't seem to be the most popular development of the Olympics of the ASEAN. Across the South China Sea, Thailand has already taken a dig at the way the Philippines has organized the SEAG, and one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to read between the lines.

It sure looks like sourgraping time for the Thais who have not been happy with the way the officiating of the games has been conducted. While all their statements have been "safe" and politically correct, the sports fan's interpretation of all these is that Thailand is accusing the Philippines of cheating just to get the over-all championship on its home soil. Doesn't this sound so familiar? "I was robbed." "They cheated." "The judges were biased."

"The judges were paid." "Everything was rigged." What else is new as we welcome yet another complaint of cheating in the now familiar tradition of blaming them for cheating if you lose? Fresh from the Hello Garci "scandal," the De La Salle ineligibility issue, and the POC-BAP stand-off, I take my hats off to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for doing his homework.

He knew very well when we were ripe to be bombed with subtle accusations of cheating through the infamous hometown decision. It just seems too logical, doesn't it? A country besieged with controversies in its sports programs could always use another accusation just to mess up its already sorry state.

The sad part about Shinawatra's comments is that it could become a trigger point for many worse things for the ASEAN sports scene. For starters, it was totally uncalled for and unexpected of a country's top honcho to make such an accusation (albeit indirectly).

If the chief executive of a country indirectly accuses the Philippines of cheating or rigging the Games, he had better have the goods to back himself up.

The other sadder point here is that by making such comments, Shinawatra has placed Thailand in a precarious position as it prepares to host the SEAG in 2007.

While Thailand insists that they will be fair in the 2007 Games, Shinawatra has already set the tone for future accusations of hometown decisions in Thailand. It now looks like an honest criticism of the ongoing SEAG might just backfire on Thailand in 2007.

And this is the kind of pressure that Thailand's organizing committee doesn't want to deal with as it works for the next two years. Every move made by Thailand's sports leaders will now be perceived as a step to ensure a Thailand championship.

And this is where I feel sorry for Thailand. While their organizing committee will work hard to stage a successful 24th SEAG, the cloud of winning via the hometown decision will always be up in the air just because of their Prime Minister's comments.

It takes one to know one. By alluding to the possibility of the prevalence of hometown decisions, Thailand surely knows what it's talking about.

We already know how notorious Thailand is when it comes to this topic. All you have to do is ask the boxing community.

A boxer has to score a knock-out just to salvage a draw if he goes to fight in Thailand. So look who's talking! A related side issue that must be addressed here is how the host team is given the option on what events are to be held.

It would be only logical for the host country to have events where it is traditionally strong. But in this year's case, there doesn't seem to be a single event that we totally dominate in the region. Suggestions have also been made to hold only the events played in the Olympics and sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. But this is also a ticklish issue since there are events popular in the region but aren't part of the Olympics, i.e. wushu, sepak takraw and the like.

In the end, I don't think Thailand is going to come out with evidence, tapes and affidavits to prove that something went amiss.

I have a feeling that they're doing all these just to send the message that the Philippines isn't capable of hosting and running the SEAG. It's really sad how a neighbor country would go out of their way to make such accusations.

And all I can say is "Why?"

* * *

Time-out: Congratulations to the winners of the Perps Badminton Club's badminton tournament held at the Portside Badminton Plaza yesterday.