Hiling ni Lina kay Elizalde, kausapin ang POC

Walang nilabag na Olympic Charter ang Basketball Association of the Philippines ayon kay BAP president Joey Lina na humiling din kay International Olympic Committee (IOC) repre-sentative to the Philip-pines Frank Elizalde na iligtas ang basketball para maidaos ito sa nalalapit na Southeast Asian Games.

Sinabi kamakalawa ni Elizalde na posibleng maparusahan ang bansa ng international Olympic body dahil sa ginawa ng BAP sa pagdadala ng isyu sa korte.

"The BAP is merely protecting the rights of Filipino basketball players who have trained long and hard to participate and defend the Philippines‚ five-time consecutive basketball crown in the forthcoming Southeast Asian Games," ani Lina sa kanyang press statement. "The BAP was not viola-ting the spirit of Olympism and the Olympic chapter when it successfully se-cured a preliminary man-datory injunction from a Manila Regional Trial Court, which ordered the Philippine Olympic Com-mittee (POC) to reinstate the BAP. In the case filed with the Court, the BAP had maintained that it was expelled without basis under both the POC Char-ter and PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) law."

Ayon kay Lina, maaaring subukan ni Elizalde na kumbinsihin ang POC na i-reinstate ang BAP upang pansamantalang bawiin ng FIBA ang ipi-nataw na suspensiyon sa bansa.

"As IOC representative to our country, and as member of the POC, Mr. Elizalde could have lent the stature of his offices, even on an unofficial ba-sis, to mediate, conciliate, or arbitrate in the contro-versy between the POC and the BAP which had been brewing for a long time," sabi pa ni Lina.