Fair Play: Another parent in trouble for Aboitiz Cup misconduct

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's March 31 issue)
THE past few weeks, I’ve been to more Aboitiz Cup matches than in the past few years.

Back when I was in the beat, I would be in all matches, and I didn’t even need to see a match report or see a team lineup to get a story as I knew almost the best players in all divisions—the names that get mentioned in a story. It’s how I made friends and developed sources in the beat.


And in the past few days, I learned from friends that before the Enrico Mongaya incident, there was another parent in trouble for misconduct.

And like the Alcoy vs. Ateneo brawl, a series of photos were taken but they weren’t published. I’ve seen a couple of the photos and it’s not as action-packed as the one that made national news, but the story behind the photos is troubling.

His actions, I think, are worse than of Mongaya’s as the infamous dad reacted to a situation. In the other case, one parent of an Under 11 team got into an altercation with the opposing team’s coach in a finals match that his son’s team lost.

He didn’t react to an incident, he was the incident.

A decision should be out any day soon and I learned the CFA Disciplinary Committee was investigating this incident before everything got swept off the table when the Alcoy vs. Ateneo brawl erupted.

What makes this whole thing more troubling is that it involves a parent and the opposing coach--a parent has no business talking to the opposing coach.

And what was his beef? He accused the coach of fielding over-aged players in a tournament that requires NSO certificates.

I asked one of the organizers if the parent ever filed a protest, but he didn’t and instead decided to confront the opposing coach.

If the one-year ban on Mongaya and those who joined the brawl are to serve as a warning, I hope the guy also gets the book thrown at him, to teach meddling parents a lesson.

You want to know if the other team’s players are ineligible? Well, go file a protest and go through the process; don’t attack the other team’s coach just because your son’s team lost in an Under 11 finals.

Actions like that merely make one a sore loser, set a bad example and to be honest, make him an embarrassment to his team.

THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY. Another incident of violent conduct happened way back in 2011, and sadly the guilty party got away.

It happened in the CIS Friendship Cup and a ref was punched and had the match official pushed through with his complaint, it would have created a lot of trouble for the bully dad, a policeman who was assigned as a security escort for a mayor in Metro Cebu.

He got away from any sanctions but I was told he also got a punishment in what could be the most apt way.

His son was so embarrassed by his actions, he stopped playing football.

Comments

arielle-cruz said…
Wow, that's pathetic! Although I've heard similar stuff from our own RIFA tournaments when I was a kid. Of course, our coach isn't one to take parents' (from our side and the opposing side) questioning sitting down. LOL!

Popular posts from this blog

The failed U23 experiment

Mother Nature plays spoilsport

A Pinoy played for Real Madrid? (updated)