Fair Play: Parents in Milo football
BANTAY lang mo moabot mo sa Mindanao!!!
That’s what a few disgruntled parents hollered at the officials during the Milo Little Olympics secondary football finals between Visayas and Mindanao.
Their complaint? Their perceived bias of the officials for the Cebu teams.
I saw the full match and I can say there was no biased officiating.
The incident in question happened away from the ball, when a Bukidnon player fell—due to a punch, the visitors claimed. It happened about 20 feet away from me yet I didn’t see it.
Had the visitors behaved accordingly prior to that, I’m sure the ref would have paid attention to their version of things. But their actions in the two days gave the referees reason not to believe them.
All I saw was the aftermath since I was glued to the action on the other side.
In a normal game, the referee would have consulted his linesmen, or fourth official. But, Milo has none of that in their seven-a-side games. (Maybe an upgrade for the next edition?)
The other camp got agitated.
Other teams’ supporters, too, got in the act.
“Biased man mo!”
“Mamatay na among player! Nangluspad na. Dugay kaayo inyo medics! Kung kamo gani, paspas ka-ayo!
“Ikaw, official ba ka nga naka tsinelas ka lang?” One poor off-duty ref, who only tried to help settle things, got yelled at.
“Dugay ka-ayo mo mahatag ug bola, kung kamo magdula, dali ka-ayo!”
“Mao ni ang Cebu? Kuyaw daw nga host pero mga tikasan diay!”
“Bantay lang mo moabot mo sa Mindanao!”
That last line really pissed me off. I hope parents like the one from Bukidnon would stop using “Mindanao” to threaten anybody. It doesn’t help.
Besides, when you hear that line in sports events, it’s usually from those rich enough to live in walled communities, unwilling to travel to the next barrio without their yayas and bodyguards.
They often tremble at the prospect of traveling to Basilan, Jolo, or South Cotabato even.
While their actions may be due to frustration, they only have themselves to blame.
They went to the game thinking the officials were really against them.
Every “non-call” only fueled their perceived conspiracy for Cebu.
There was no conspiracy, the ref did his best to call it fair.
But the “field” wasn’t fair. It seems the parents wanted the refs to call every contact made by a Cebuano a foul.
Anything less was cheating.
The non-call on the “punch” gave them a chance to rage against the host.
And rage they did and ended up losing, twice.
A year from now, those who saw the finals will hardly remember who won.
But they’d remember how people acted in that game.
To be fair, the ANS weren’t exactly like angels. Some sure weren’t. The keeper didn’t help cut the tension
by taunting the strikers, one ANS striker stupidly tried to get away with an “accidental kick to the head,” after he went down along with a defender. If he was involved in that first incident, I’d readily believe the visitors’ version of things.
Watching the football finals was a bit of a disappointment.
It was good that prior to that, I got to watch how the visitors and hosts acted in elementary tennis.
The Milo Little Olympics isn’t only about the competition, it’s about the off court stuff, too.
And the tennis event showed how competitors can show respect and foster friendship—on and off the court.
Among the players from Mindanao, NCR, Luzon and the host.
Between winners and losers.
It’s just too bad the football folks didn’t get to see and experience that.
That’s what a few disgruntled parents hollered at the officials during the Milo Little Olympics secondary football finals between Visayas and Mindanao.
Their complaint? Their perceived bias of the officials for the Cebu teams.
I saw the full match and I can say there was no biased officiating.
The incident in question happened away from the ball, when a Bukidnon player fell—due to a punch, the visitors claimed. It happened about 20 feet away from me yet I didn’t see it.
Had the visitors behaved accordingly prior to that, I’m sure the ref would have paid attention to their version of things. But their actions in the two days gave the referees reason not to believe them.
All I saw was the aftermath since I was glued to the action on the other side.
In a normal game, the referee would have consulted his linesmen, or fourth official. But, Milo has none of that in their seven-a-side games. (Maybe an upgrade for the next edition?)
The other camp got agitated.
Other teams’ supporters, too, got in the act.
“Biased man mo!”
“Mamatay na among player! Nangluspad na. Dugay kaayo inyo medics! Kung kamo gani, paspas ka-ayo!
“Ikaw, official ba ka nga naka tsinelas ka lang?” One poor off-duty ref, who only tried to help settle things, got yelled at.
“Dugay ka-ayo mo mahatag ug bola, kung kamo magdula, dali ka-ayo!”
“Mao ni ang Cebu? Kuyaw daw nga host pero mga tikasan diay!”
“Bantay lang mo moabot mo sa Mindanao!”
That last line really pissed me off. I hope parents like the one from Bukidnon would stop using “Mindanao” to threaten anybody. It doesn’t help.
Besides, when you hear that line in sports events, it’s usually from those rich enough to live in walled communities, unwilling to travel to the next barrio without their yayas and bodyguards.
They often tremble at the prospect of traveling to Basilan, Jolo, or South Cotabato even.
While their actions may be due to frustration, they only have themselves to blame.
They went to the game thinking the officials were really against them.
Every “non-call” only fueled their perceived conspiracy for Cebu.
There was no conspiracy, the ref did his best to call it fair.
But the “field” wasn’t fair. It seems the parents wanted the refs to call every contact made by a Cebuano a foul.
Anything less was cheating.
The non-call on the “punch” gave them a chance to rage against the host.
And rage they did and ended up losing, twice.
A year from now, those who saw the finals will hardly remember who won.
But they’d remember how people acted in that game.
To be fair, the ANS weren’t exactly like angels. Some sure weren’t. The keeper didn’t help cut the tension
by taunting the strikers, one ANS striker stupidly tried to get away with an “accidental kick to the head,” after he went down along with a defender. If he was involved in that first incident, I’d readily believe the visitors’ version of things.
Watching the football finals was a bit of a disappointment.
It was good that prior to that, I got to watch how the visitors and hosts acted in elementary tennis.
The Milo Little Olympics isn’t only about the competition, it’s about the off court stuff, too.
And the tennis event showed how competitors can show respect and foster friendship—on and off the court.
Among the players from Mindanao, NCR, Luzon and the host.
Between winners and losers.
It’s just too bad the football folks didn’t get to see and experience that.
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