Fair Play: Grab a popcorn, and let's watch latest Manila V'ball drama
(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Feb. 12 edition)
I THOUGHT that after the new group--Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas (LVP)--got the blessing from the international body, the squabbling in the sport would end and the new national sport association could begin to get to work.
Well. I was wrong.
A brief background. The squabbling Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) officials were yanked off when the new Philippine Olympic Committee-endorsed group, LVP, got the blessing of the international body. Now, POC president Peping Cojuangco, shedding all pretenses of neutrality in this squabble, asked his old political buddy Victorico Chavez to come in as president of the LVP.
Getting the blessing of the international body is not easy, getting it as quick as the LVP got it is nothing short of miraculous and the guy who did that was Tats Suzara, who is with the Asian Volleyball Confederation. And what was Chavez’s first order of business? He wants Suzara stripped of any position in the LVP.
Oh, by the way, Chavez was the president of the Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association, before it became the PVF.
If you are now shaking your head, so am I. Not just at this latest twist in the volleyball drama but at this blatant interference of the affairs of the national sports association by POC President Peping Cojuangco.
Gaud the stakeholders to form a new group and once it’s formed and is recognized internationally, call in your buddy to step in as leader in favor of those who worked for the creation of the group?
How more manipulative can one get?
And oh, by the way, when was the last time we won a medal in the Olympics?
Why was Peping chosen as the POC president in the first place? Yes, right, he had the ear of Dear Noynoy. Well, that’s turning out to be one mistake paired with another.
Look at what he’s doing in volleyball.
By the way, why are all these guys fighting over who gets to run volleyball in the country?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, but my number one suspicion is that it’s all about the money. Next to basketball, volleyball is the most lucrative sport in the country with the Super Liga and the V-League. Heck, attendance in some college games in Manila trump that of the PBA.
This latest twist shows volleyball is doomed in the country. Makes you want to wish that someone would form a Visayas-Mindanao Volleyball Federation and let the groups in NCR drag each other down.
And let’s enjoy a bowl of popcorn while we watch them do it. It’s the only thing we can do.
(mikelimpag@gmail.com)
I THOUGHT that after the new group--Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas (LVP)--got the blessing from the international body, the squabbling in the sport would end and the new national sport association could begin to get to work.
Well. I was wrong.
A brief background. The squabbling Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) officials were yanked off when the new Philippine Olympic Committee-endorsed group, LVP, got the blessing of the international body. Now, POC president Peping Cojuangco, shedding all pretenses of neutrality in this squabble, asked his old political buddy Victorico Chavez to come in as president of the LVP.
Getting the blessing of the international body is not easy, getting it as quick as the LVP got it is nothing short of miraculous and the guy who did that was Tats Suzara, who is with the Asian Volleyball Confederation. And what was Chavez’s first order of business? He wants Suzara stripped of any position in the LVP.
Oh, by the way, Chavez was the president of the Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association, before it became the PVF.
If you are now shaking your head, so am I. Not just at this latest twist in the volleyball drama but at this blatant interference of the affairs of the national sports association by POC President Peping Cojuangco.
Gaud the stakeholders to form a new group and once it’s formed and is recognized internationally, call in your buddy to step in as leader in favor of those who worked for the creation of the group?
How more manipulative can one get?
And oh, by the way, when was the last time we won a medal in the Olympics?
Why was Peping chosen as the POC president in the first place? Yes, right, he had the ear of Dear Noynoy. Well, that’s turning out to be one mistake paired with another.
Look at what he’s doing in volleyball.
By the way, why are all these guys fighting over who gets to run volleyball in the country?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, but my number one suspicion is that it’s all about the money. Next to basketball, volleyball is the most lucrative sport in the country with the Super Liga and the V-League. Heck, attendance in some college games in Manila trump that of the PBA.
This latest twist shows volleyball is doomed in the country. Makes you want to wish that someone would form a Visayas-Mindanao Volleyball Federation and let the groups in NCR drag each other down.
And let’s enjoy a bowl of popcorn while we watch them do it. It’s the only thing we can do.
(mikelimpag@gmail.com)
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