PSL in trouble

Pilipinas Super League seems to be in deep trouble. After a blazing start and near-spotless tournament, the organization is in limbo. The STAR has received complaints of non-payment to several partners of the league, and no communication from the side of league management, a bad portent of things to come.

According to the affected parties, PSL has supposedly received no less than four demand letters already, including missives from the TV station which broadcast the games, the TV production company, and venues used for the PSL President’s Cup, National and Global tournaments. All told, PSL’s obligations allegedly exceed a staggering P23 million.

The problems began in April, when payments to the TV producers were held up, causing delays in compensation, even to the commentators and production staff for the games. By July, it became apparent that even employees of the league itself were not getting paid on time, or not at all. Even the PBA legends who oversaw the tournaments nationwide were not spared.

The victims point to three PSL officials whom they see as being responsible for the mess: the special assistant to the CEO, the finance head and the league president. According to those seeking redress, these three are signatories to contracts and checks paid out to all league partners. The first two have been incommunicado, despite repeated formal and informal pleas for explanations or even face-to-face meetings to determine payment schedules. The third merely claims his hands are tied. Today, the production company is filing a final demand notice. Some of the parties involved are contemplating class action against PSL. A former employee is calling on the National Labor Relations Council (NLRC) to step in.

This raises several questions. First, did PSL really launch a league with insufficient funds? If not, where did the money go? Do the league owners know what has been going on and how grave the situation is? Most importantly, when will people get paid? After all, they continued to render service even when they weren’t being compensated. Repeated attempts to get answers have been met with stone-cold silence.

For the sake of parties involved, we have withheld the identities of all concerned. This column will name names in a succeeding piece.