FEU's Racela, La Salle's Ayo settle rift from preseason fracas

MANILA, Philippines — Head coaches Olsen Racela and Aldin Ayo will now focus on basketball rather than the drama that’s hovering over their respective teams.

“I want to close the book of that FEU-La Salle (episode),” Racela, Far Eastern University’s new head coach, said during the UAAP’s press conference at the MOA Arena on Monday.

“Sa akin kasi, what I always preach and tell my players is to ‘not dwell on the past and to move forward, and be mindful of the present,’” the first-time college mentor said.

“‘Yun ang sabi ko sa kanila — na kalimutan na ang nangyari. Everyone’ excited about the coming season. We’re excited about our first game. Nataon pa na against La Salle. So let’s leave it at that and let’s all move forward,” he offered.

Racela and his Tamaraws and Ayo and his Archers figured in a bench-clearing altercation during a pocket tournament held Davao City on August 25. The two teams were slapped with forfeiture with still with a little over a quarter left to play.

For his part, Ayo echoed Racela’s sentiment.

“Very unfortunate that it happened. Sana hindi nangyari, pero hindi namin pinaguusapan ‘yun. I told the boys huwag nang pagusapan, huwag nang mag-post ng kung anu-ano,” he shared. “We are focused on the UAAP. Right after that we went to practice and we never talked about it even to school administrators.”

“Sabi ko, ‘di kailangan pag-usapan dahil walang nananalo sa social media,” Ayo explained. “If you argue in social media, lalaki lang nang lalaki. Hopefully ma-settle na — if we can patch things up — kasi sports naman ito, hindi naman ito kung anu-ano.”

The champion coach, who steered the Green Archers to the title in his rookie year, was in hot water for allegedly choking the Tamaraws' Arvin Tolentino during the confrontation.

“I did not do that,” Ayo noted. “Lahat naman ng coaches doon, tumatakbo, may tinutulak kasi gustong umawat. I was just doing that.”

“Kung bibigyan ng motive lahat ng ginagawa ng mga coaches dun, pwede mo lagyan ng storya at kwento. Pero I opted not to say anything about it kasi lalaki na lang,” he added.

The two coaches hugged each other during the photo-ops. But some of their players in attendance barely had interaction.

Asked whether the league is contemplating on meting out sanctions, UAAP commissioner Rebo Saguisag said he is confined to operate within the technical aspects of the league.

“This being out of our league, literally, I cannot put sanctions,” he shared. “Whether the board in its collective wisdom would like to address this issue moving forward, we don’t know.”

UAAP Season 80 president and host FEU’s Anton Montinola chimed in: “Let's move on. It was a pocket tournament … To dwell on it is counterproductive.”