Time running out on RP cage team as SEAG deadline nears

The clock is ticking.

With only seven days left before the Aug. 11 deadline for the submission of lineups to next month’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have yet to decide on whether or not they would send their representatives over to render a final decision on the BAP problem.

"No response yet," said Moying Martelino, VP for operations of the Lito Puyat faction which recently asked the FIBA and the IOC to come over as soon as possible, settle the eight-month-old dispute, lift the BAP suspension handed down last June 12, and allow the country to defend the men’s cage crown in the Malaysian capital.

In a letter dated July 24, the FIBA asked Puyat and Quintellano "Tiny" Literal, the leader of the other BAP party, to settle their differences on or before Aug. 31 or the IOC will have to step in. But this scenario was thumbed down by Literal’s group which is instead counting on its ally, the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), to pressure the FIBA to lift the suspension and recognize his group.

Literal’s actions could be the main reason why the FIBA and the IOC have delayed – or even aborted – their plan to settle the ugly leadership dispute since it was stated in their July 24 letter that the two groups will first have to agree on their proposal before it gets off the ground. Puyat had welcomed the proposal with open arms.

"Let’s see what the ABC can do. The FIBA is such a principled body and I don’t think it can be pressured by the ABC," Martelino, an old hand in Philippine basketball, told The STAR. "Because under the international structure, the ABC is under the FIBA. But if the other group insists on the ABC pressuring the FIBA, then let’s see."

In case the FIBA and the IOC decide against settling the issue or the ABC and Literal solution fails, then the BAP might as well forget about the SEA Games.

"Then it’s back to square one," said Martelino.

And the ball will once again be in the hands of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), which might consider dissolving the BAP, call for an "open" election, and recognize a new basketball body – whoever comes out on top of it.