NCAA to bar foreign athletes

MANILA, Philippines — The NCAA will cut short the foreign athletes’ playing years up to Season 95 next year even as it threw its full backing to the House of Representatives in its fight against “game-fixing” via House Bill 5032 or “Anti-Game Fixing Act.”

NCAA Management Committee chairman Frank Gusi of Season 94 host Perpetual Help said the league’s rule on foreign athletes will cover all sports, not just basketball.

“Foreign players will get to play until Season 95, that’s the recent NCAA decision and it will apply not just in basketball but in other sports as well,” said Gusi in yesterday’s Phl Sportswriters Association Forum at the Tapa King in Farmers Market, Cubao.

San Beda’s Toba Eugene and St. Benilde’s Clement Leutcheu will be affected by the league’s recent decision since their eligibility year runs up to Year 2020.

For many, the presence of foreign players has stunted the growth and development of local big men with coaches preferring to use the foreigners instead of the locals to boost their respective campaigns.

Meanwhile, league and Perpetual Help president Anthony Tamayo has submitted a position paper on game-fixing to the Lower House.

Game-fixing refers to an act referring to “any arrangement, combination, scheme or agreement made by any person who, for valuable consideration or monetary gain, maliciously conducts or causes to be conducted any game, race or sports competition, the outcome of which shall be predicted or known to other than on the basis of the honest playing skill or ability of the players or participants or in a manner that would remove or otherwise undermine the competitive nature of the game or sport, in order to predetermine result.”