Philta elections remain on hold

MANILA, Philippines -  Still no elections (NoEl) at the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association or Philta.

According to Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, the Philta elections will not push through today as earlier planned because the stakeholders want to make sure that everything is ironed out first.

“What everybody wants is that after the elections, there will be no protests,” said Cojuangco yesterday.

“That’s why even the smallest details are being cleared,” said Cojuangco, who has tapped Frank Elizalde to head the three-man POC committee to fix the Philta mess.

A leadership crisis has hounded Philta the past few months since Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez stepped down as Philta president.

An election took place last February with Salvador Andrada elected president. But it led to a protest from the group led by tennis patron Jean Henry Lhuillier.

Andrada tried to save the sport by resigning but has remained a member of the board.

Lhuillier has expressed his interest to serve as Philta president and is just waiting for the elections, which was also postponed last month, to push through.

It remains unclear if anybody will challenge Lhuillier for the top post.

“Postponed muna yung bukas. They all agreed on that,” said Cojuangco, adding that if the impasse continues, the POC might have to take over Philta’s preparations for the SEA Games in August.

“If necessary, the POC can handle the preparations for August,” he said.