MANILA, 14 November 2003 — Former Philippine Basketball Association superstar Avelino “Samboy” Lim believes the controversies on drugs and fake Fil-Am players are hurting the PBA.
Considered as one of the league’s all-time greats, Lim said the PBA is moving to the right direction, but he advised the leadership to make implement strict rules to resolve the drug problem and fake Fil-Americans issue.
Obviously, the doping problem has alarmed the basketball sports industry still struggling from waning game revenues amid economic difficulties and the emergence of new and rival forms of entertainment. Officials estimate the value of the illegal drug trade in the Philippines at 81.6 billion pesos a year.
The professional league, established 28 years ago, has about 200 players and 10 teams funded by top Philippine corporations.
“These problems (drug and fake Fil-Am issues) have somewhat contributed to the dwindling gate attendance,” said the soft-spoken Lim, who earned the monicker “Skywalker” as one of the PBA’s top crowd-drawers because of his electrifying moves.
PBA Commissioner Noli Eala was so particularly alarmed over the drug mess that he called for desperate measures to curb the menace.
He had already drafted a proposal that all the league players be made to submit to a drug test on a per team basis this season, on dates to be randomly announced by the league.
The process would run simultaneously with the random testing done on eight players, at two per team, during regular PBA playdates.
Eala said he is dead serious in the league’s anti-drug campaign.
Local cagers have been subjected to drug tests for years, but the prevalence of the problem has forced sports officials to launch a crackdown.
The tests are confidential and done randomly on four players each game day by government health and police crime laboratory officials.
Those who test positive for drugs are suspended without pay and required to go through a rehabilitation program.
After about four to six months, the players are reevaluated to determine whether they could be allowed to play again or permanently banned from the court.
With drug cases coming up from all over and going straight at the league, the PBA is hard-pressed to make a mandatory drug check on all its 120 or more players.
Eala admitted the random drug test on PBA players was reintroduced only during the final conference last year.
He did admit he had carefully studied the suggestion of a total drug test but added he would resort to it only if what they are doing now fails to address the problem.
He said the PBA will come out with a detailed anti-drug policy to be based on that of the United States’ National Basketball Association.
The PBA, through the help of the Department of Health, is currently testing only four of the eight specimens taken from players each playing day.
Although he has vowed wider drug testing in the league, Eala maintained that the main weapon against the drug problem is proper education.
The league has the support of the Philippine Olympic Committee, which joined its anti-drug drive as part of the global campaign against banned substance.
Lim said the arrival of talented Fil-foreign players helps a lot in raising the standards of the game for the Filipino players.
Yet, their presence alone is not enough to shore up gate attendance in the PBA.
The 41-year-old Lim also said the league must be rid out of fake Fil-foreign players as soon as possible.
Lim pointed out that even with a merry mix of sensational imports and other promotional gimmicks, the PBA would fail in its bid to lure fans back into its venues if the issue against the so-called Fil-shams is not settled soon.
The PBA has gone through a series of “storms” this season.
Controversies such as the television coverage, the advertising brouhaha involving Beam Toothpaste, the Fil-sham issue and the drug scandals that netted some of the league’s superstars have all contributed to the dwindling of gate attendance.
Eala has actually tried to “rescue” the league by coming up with promotional gimmicks such as the Toyota-Crispa matchup, which served as a “front-act” to the All-Star Weekend of the PBA last June. The amiable PBA commissioner also revived the ongoing One-on-One matchup.
He also revived the Reinforced Conference, which was one of the original conferences instituted by the PBA during its formative years in the 1970s, replacing the Governor’s Cup. At the same time, Eala brought back the Invitational Cup, though it proved to be a flop considering that the foreign teams invited were patsies.
Eala has also reconnected with the fans on a personal level, seating himself and his staff amid the crowd while treating fans to watch the action from the sidelines.
He also has created special boxes where fans can mingle with celebrities while watching games and will be served on by waiters.
“With all these changes and by our own admission that this is a transition phase for the league, we had very little expectations about attendance because we understood there was the possibility that fans would simply wait and see what the new PBA is all about before coming into the games,” said Eala.
He said he is proposing a radical revision of the league format in a bid to generate fan interest and improve the quality of competition in a tight eight-month schedule.
The recent controversies with its playing venues are forcing the PBA to speed up search for site where it can build its own cage dome next year.
The PBA board has unanimously approved plans for the construction of its own venue.
Actually, the league had already planned in the past to build its own venue. The plan was shelved because of the economic crisis the country has been experiencing since the late 90s.
But Eala said talks with Araneta and PhilSports officials are still ongoing.
If plans don’t miscarry, the “PBA Dome” will become a landmark either in the Pagcor City in the Para?aque reclamation area, the present site of the Rizal provincial capitol in Pasig or a private land in front of the SM North Edsa in Quezon City.
According to Sta. Lucia Realty PBA board representative Buddy Encarnado, the governors welcomed the proposal put forward by Eala to draw up plans to put up its own venue.
He said the prospective venue must be able to stand on its own, meaning a complex that includes a shopping mall-like structure to lure the crowds even during the off-season.
Encarnado, a real estate developer, has been tasked by the board to head the committee that will lay down the groundwork for the project.
