SINGAPORE—The Philippines’s protest against an Indonesian player it suspects to be a male rather than a female was denied by the International Volleyball Federation’s Japanese representative to the 28th SEA Games.
Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas Inc. (LVPI), the national association for the sport, sought for clarification on the gender of Indonesia’s Aprilia Manganang.
“They [the organizers] told us there was not enough material time to conduct the gender test on the Indonesian,” LVPI President Joey Romasanta said.
Romasanta said he was informed by the SEA Games Organizing Committee that it merely adopted the certification given by the FIVB on Manganang’s gender.
The protest made news in the Games that reporters, most of them from Indonesia, sought comments from Philippine volleyball and secretariat officials.
Ricky Palou, team manager of the national squad and secretary-general of LVPI, told reporters and local TV that “they are abiding by the decision on the protest.”
Manganang was equally the most-sought after during the match but was cool in responding to questions from media.
“I am used to it, but I used the Philippine protest as a motivation—to make me work harder for my team,” she told reporters in Indonesian.