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Sports
officials have begun taking sides in a brewing blame
game as the Philippines continued to sink in the overall
medal standings in the 24th Southeast Asian Games.
The
Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippines Sports
Commission opened a can of worms when they pointed to
one another as the reason for the Philippines’ slow
crash in the multisport event it won handily the last
time it was held two years ago.
As if
the mudslinging wasn’t tacky enough, other officials
joined in the fray.
“The [POC-backed]
SEA Games task force is responsible for all the problems
we’re having there [in
Thailand],
because they are in charge of the preparation and they
are making the decision,” said Francis Chan, honorary
president of the Philippine Wushu Federation.
Chan’s
statement was a response to Mark Joseph’s claim that it
was the PSC’s sluggish participation that is costing the
RP stint.
Joseph,
the POC deputy secretary-general, accused the PSC of
creating a misimpression that the POC members of the SEA
Games Task Force had anything to do with the purchasing
of substandard luggage, the late or nondelivery of
uniforms and equipment, and the debacle involving the
incomplete release of allowances to athletes at the SEAG.”
Joseph
added he was speaking in behalf of the other
federations, a claim Chan rebuffed.
“Don’t
speak on my behalf. And I don’t think the other
[national sports associations] shared his statement.”
Go Teng
Kok seconded Chan.
“Ang
ganyang sistema nila mismo ang nirereklamo ng mga
NSAs,” the athletics chief said. “Ang ganyang klase
ng pamamalakad mismo ang nagpapahirap sa mga atleta.”
PSC
chairman William Ramirez refused to give a comment,
saying he would rather focus on attending to the
athletes’ needs. |
