Elizalde at SCOOP sa Kamayan
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 30 Jul 2011
Frank Elizalde.
Nothing to worry about.
This was how International Olympic Committee representative to the Philippines Frank Elizalde reacted to fears that the Philippines stands to be suspended by the sports? world governing body in the face of controversies engulfing the local sporting scene.
?What is happening here is not that serious that needs intervention by the IOC,? Elizalde, the IOC man in the country since the 70s, assured in yesterday?s SCOOP Sa Kamayan weekly session at the Kamayan Restaurant-Padre Faura. ?What?s happening here is but an internal affair that can be resolved within the POC confine.?
?There might be a sort of government interference witrh the way cases are being filed in courts, but I don?t think they are that serious compared to, say, the case of Kuwait and Ghana, which only recently were penalized by suspension,? the soft-spoken Elizalde Elizalde, who was once president of the now Philippine Football Federation was referring to the suspension meted out on Kuwait and Ghana by the IOC after their respective governments appointed officials of each National Olympic Committee.
?Here, it?s nothing but powerplay on the part of one group and power struggle on the part of those affected by the power play,? he said, adding the world body, granting that it penalized an NOC, would spare the athletes.
?The POC will never, never prejudice the interest of the athletes. In the last Olympic Games in Beijing, how many athletes competed under the banner of the IOC for reason that their NOCs had been suspended or penalized?? Elizsalde recalled. ?This rumors that the country stands to be suspended and thereby, prejudice our participation in this year?s Southeast Asian Games are just that, rumors. No basis,? he said.
More than half of the some 30-member POC have, for a long time, at odds with the POC leadership of President Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco. In regards to warning issued by IOC president Jacques Rogge in relation to the reported corrpution being committed by several NOCs,Elizalde said such only serves as preventive measure for the concerned local bodies to consider.
?In the first place, I as the IOC representative here, have no police power. All I can do is to make sure that those convened behave appropriately,? he explained. ?However, if those charged in courts are proven guilty and convicted, then that?s the time I will make my move to report to the IOC for proper action.?
?You see, filing a case in court doesn?t mean the one being accused is already guilty. Filing a case is one thing and proving guilt is another thing,? he philosophized. ?My advice is, let the courts decide. After all, they?re the ones who seek the help of the court.? Cojuangco himself is facing charges of malersation, same with chair Monico Puentevella in the aftermath of the country?s hosting of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games where they allegedly failed to liquidate government money in the millions of pesos they received from the Philippine Sports Commission.
Mark Joseph of swimming and the POC deputy secretary general was also charged of money laundering for securing P34 million assistance directly from the government-run PAGCOR that landed at the hands of then PAGCOR chair Efraim Genuino as payment to Trace Swimming center owned by the latter.
Elizalde admitted having been approached by athletics and karatedo president Go Teng Kok on the matter and he advised the latter to establish guilt first on the individuals he charged against. ?He has already one of the cases he filed against several individuals in the case of the karatedo federation leadership, so what?s the hurry?? he said.
Reacting to reports that some groups within the POC family are planning to go directly to the IOC president to find redress to their complaints, the IOC top honcho said: ?There?s nothing to stop them from doing that nor from going to the CAS (Court Arbitraion for Sports) to air their gripes. It?s their right.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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