Outspoken PATAFA head Go Teng Kok was unanimously booted out of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) after an extraordinary meeting yesterday. According to POC spokesman Joey Romasanta, only Go is expelled and not the Philippine Track and Field Association (PATAFA).
Well, well, well... Philippine sports is embroiled in controversy again. Their is just so much politics in the handling of Philippine sports associations. The big associations had their share of controversy. Basketball had the Graham Lim issue. Football ousted Mari Martinez. Swimming had its problems. There were 2 cycling associations.Now, PATAFA has its longtime head ousted from the POC.
Where will this stop? We never won a gold medal in the Olympics and we had a share of dismal performances in international competitions. With political bickering in the leadership of sports, no wonder we lack world-class athletes. I am sure that Go will not go down without a tough fight. Hopefully this controversy will not affect the SEA games preparations of our athletes. It would be hard if the case will cause the Philippines to be suspended by the IOC.
Speaking of PATAFA, gone are the days that we have world-level or even Asian-level athletes. We do not have a Lydia De Vega anymore or an Elma Muros. Our top track and field athletes are aging. We can still win a few golds in the SEA games but after that, nothing. I do not know where we should get our athletes. We might need US NCAA caliber athletes to bring in competition to our old guns.
Reform is always the word that people use when they stage a coup de'tat. Well, a coup has been started at PATAFA, let's see if there will be reforms.
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