MANILA, Philippines - Kung may bagay mang dapat tutukan ang Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) ukol sa pagdaraos nila ng mga National Open, ito ay ang usapin sa eligi-bility.
Ito ang sinabi ni Philippine Aquatic Sports Asso-ciation (PASA) president Mark Joseph hinggil sa pagtulong ng PSC sa pamamahala ng mga Natio-nal Sports Associations (NSA)s sa kanilang mga National Open.
“PASA supports the PSC initiative of having Na-tional Youth Games and National Opens. Depen-ding on their mechanics, we can easily establish specific rules and regulations governing eligibility of all competitors,” ani Joseph sa isang statement.
Sinabi na ni PSC chairman Richie Garcia na gusto niyang tiyakin na ang bawat National Open ay susuportahan ng go-vernment sports body at magiging bukas sa lahat ng Pinoy na kahit hindi miyembro ng isang NSA.
Isa ang PASA sa mga sports associations na tanging ang kanilang miyembro ang tinatanggap, ayon na rin sa eligibility rules na ipinapatupad ng International Swimming Federation (Fina).
Sinabi ni Joseph na ang eligibility ang siyang titiyak na tunay ang mga papeles ng mga partisipante.
“Naturally, screening of competitors will have to be undertaken to ensure they are in the right age group and represent their true local government unit or school,” ani Joseph.
“As with any competition, league or championship - from Palarong Pambansa to the Olympics - eli-gibility forms are always required for processing of official entry forms. As far as FINA is concerned, PASA’s registration system is a computerized one-stop eligibility verification shop. All eligible athletes are issued a unique ID number that allows them to compete freely here (at any level) and anywhere else in the world,” dagdag pa nito.