Money In Sports

Money and sports. Do you ever wonder what money can do in sports? Do you know how much is invested in sports just to win a medal? Every year, the various National Sports Associations (NSA's) always complain how they don't have the funds to train their athletes and finance their trips to international competitions abroad. It's an over-chewed chewing gum that never goes away. "We don't have funds. Give us money and our athletes will win it for the country," they always declare.

But haven't you ever bothered to ask how the money given to our NSAs is spent? Audited? Maximized? I'm a tax-paying citizen. Don't I deserve a report on how the Pinoy's money in sports is spent?

Well it looks like the cat is out of the bag. But my question is why only now. It has been reported that some 18 NSAs have yet to liquidate or account for a total of P88 million that was given to them by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). This is the main reason why the PSC is no longer releasing more funds to these NSAs under a "no liquidation, no financial assistance" policy.

This has expectedly soured the relationship between the PSC and NSAs with the NSAs now telling us Pinoys that the PSC is the bad guy in this drama. Huh? Come on now, we're not that stupid! PATAFA Head Go Teng Kok has even called for the resignation of PSC Chairman William Ramirez who refuses to bend over and violate a basic accounting practice. Why? Because the PSC Board denied the PATAFA's request for P1.4 million, the amount needed to run the National Open. So who's the bad guy here?

The ongoing rift between Ramirez and Go (and the 18 NSAs) has opened up a can of worms which has been lingering as a serious issue for quite some time now. It doesn't get too much attention in the media, but is discussed in loose talk and in the informal sports circles. What are the NSAs doing to the money that's given to them? Is it really that difficult to account for the money that is given to them?

If we follow basic accounting procedures, liquidation of funds should be a piece of cake. When one receives money, he accounts for it by showing the official receipts that will indicate how the money was spent. Don't we all follow this basic practice at our various offices? Don't we all have a petty cash custodian or cashier who always follows up a Cash Advance that we made earlier in the week or month?

The story here is that simple. The PSC gave funds to these 18 NSAs, but these NSAs have not yet accounted for these funds. And now, the NSAs are raising their arms and lashing at the PSC for not giving them funds for their training and competitions. In the end, I wouldn't be surprised if they'll blame the PSC for the downfall of Philippine sports.

Now you tell me. Who's to blame for this predicament? Who's in a position to solve the problem?

Korek ka dyan! The NSAs should just shut up and review Accounting 101. Instead of branding the PSC as the bad guy, they should take a very close look at the mirror and ask themselves, "How did I spend the money given to me by the PSC? How did I spend the money of the ordinary Filipino?"

They should then go back to their offices and look for all the supporting documents and receipts that will show how they spent every centavo that was given to them. If all their expenses were well-documented, audited and filed, it shouldn't be a problem, should it? A major problem will arise if their expenses weren't documented and not supported by legitimate receipts. An even bigger problem will blow up if it's discovered that something fishy happened to the funds.

If the NSAs are confident that they didn't do anything wrong, they shouldn't be worried. All they have to do is dig up their files and turn over their documents. But if they did something fishy with the money, that's a different story.

Money in sports? There's surely a lot of it. I don't know, but I guess I now realize why fellow bleacher bums theorize that some people are into sports for some other purpose. But I also hope they're wrong. Hmmm.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Enrique Lorenzo C. Navarro IV, aka Enzo! >>> You can reach me at [email protected] and http://bleachertalk.blogspot.com.