PASA backs PSC move, cites rules on eligibility

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Aquatic Sports Association (PASA) pre¡sident Mark Joseph yesterday welcomed the Philippine Sports Commission’s efforts to help national sports associations (NSAs) stage National Opens but underscored the importance of enforcing eligibility rules in accepting participants in every competition.

“PASA supports the PSC initiative of having National Youth Games and National Opens. Depending on their mechanics, we can easily establish specific rules and regulations governing eligibility of all competitors,” Joseph said in a statement.

PSC chairman Ricardo Garcia, in a recent interview, said they would want to make sure that every National Open meet funded by the government sports body would be “open” to Filipinos, regardless of affiliation or non-affiliation with the organizers. This is so that even “outsiders” could get a chance to compete and possibly vie for slots to the Philippine team.

The PASA is likely to be affected by this since it only accommodates swimmers belonging to groups registered with the association, as per eligibility rules imposed by the International Swimming Federation (Fina).

Joseph explained that eligibility is meant to make sure the participants’ papers and qualifications are in order.

“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,” he said.

“As with any competition, league or championship – from Palarong Pambansa to the Olympics – eligibility 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,” he added.

Joseph said he looks forward to sitting down with the PSC as well as the Philippine Olympic Committee and the NSAs in a technical meeting/congress to further discuss such technical matters.