MANILA, 7 May 2004 — Fake Fil-American players seeing action in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are ‘slowing down’ the recovery of the country’s Premier League.
Commissioner Noli Eala has commissioned a firm called AC Nielsen to conduct separate surveys in September last year and in January. The exact figures, however, were kept secret by the league citing “confidentiality”.
The surveys showed that the PBA, Asia’s first play-for-pay league, is currently facing an uphill climb to recover from a series of major problems, particularly the problem of fake Fil-Ams playing in the league.
Last year, the Senate Committee on Games and Sports, chaired by Sen. Robert Barbers, concluded its investigation on the Fil-Am controversy, and recommended to the Bureau of Immigration the deportation of at least eight Fil-foreigners, but the Department of Justice has yet to withdraw the citizenship it gave to the eight.
These include Asi Taulava, Dorian Pe?a, Eric Menk, Andy Seigle, Mick Pennisi and Davonn Harp, Jon Ordonio and Rudy Hatfield. All eight, however, still received permits from the Immigration bureau to play in the PBA this season.
Eala, who took over the commissionership of the PBA from Jun Bernardino two years ago, is determined to resolve the issue, saying doing such would make a big impact in the recovery of the professional league.
“I’d like to successfully address this matter, because fans have been questioning the presence of the Fil-foreigners,” said Eala. “This has become a hindrance to the total reconstruction of the credibility of the PBA as a league. There’s a problem with the acceptability of these foreign players. Not foreign players, per se, but those who have fake papers and made it all the way to the PBA.”
Interestingly, Eala is pushing for further investigation to dig deeper into the problem of fake Fil-Ams. He, however, maintains that these “dubious” Fil-Ams are still suspects, pending further investigation.
The PBA boss said the PBA Board of Governors, headed by Sta Lucia Realty’s Buddy Encarnado, was furnished copies of the surveys’ result as well as the measures that he would like to take in the future.
Earlier, Bert Lina of FedEx warned the league that it’s days are numbered, no thanks to fake Fil-foreign players.
Lina, whose team entered the PBA early last year, broke his silence for the first time on the worsening state of the pro basketball league, citing a lot of factors for its continuous decline. He particularly blamed the Fil-sham mess and the high cost of tickets as reasons for the continued decline of gate attendance in Asia’s first-ever pro league.
According to Lina, 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 people are fuming mad because of Fil-shams who are still playing in the PBA,” said Lina, who urged the professional league to expedite its work in ridding the pro league of the Fil-shams. “They feel cheated because of this Fil-sham controversy.”
Lina pointed out fake Filipino cagers are pulling the league down. He earlier suggested that the PBA reduce its ticket prices, especially those in the lower and ringside sections to bolster gate attendance in the league.
