FORMER SEN. Joey Lina, president of the Basketball Association of the Philippines, has a last-ditch proposal to resolve the basketball impasse in the Southeast Asian Games: Reinstate the BAP to the Philippine Olympic Committee on a temporary basis.
And with the critical issue of the BAP’s expulsion momentarily set aside, Lina is hoping the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) will proceed to lift its suspension of the Philippines in all FIBA-sanctioned tournaments, including the SEA Games.
What happens next is in the realm of speculation, as with the remote possibility of Jose Cojuangco Jr., the POC president, agreeing to the Lina gambit.
Patrick Baumann, the FIBA president, had said earlier that only the "irrevocable" reinstatement of the BAP to the POC membership would soften the FIBA stance.
Cojuangco, for his part, had declared that he would rather resign his post than see the expulsion sentence on the BAP lifted.
Lina’s cautious approach to what amounts to a truce offer is understandable. Not only once has his propositions been repulsed by Cojuangco, and this latest overture could invite the same response.
Unless things have changed dramatically in the overview of SEAG basketball.
"This matter has been relayed to the FIBA," said Lina when chanced upon during the PBA games last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
"Everybody’s contributing to the effort to impress upon the FIBA the importance of lifting the suspension," added Lina.
The POC has filed an appeal to the FIBA and the latter’s secretary-general, Patrick Baumann, is set to decide on it on Oct. 24.
Lina and POC president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco were set to meet two Sundays ago and thresh out the problem, but the meeting has been rescheduled indefinitely.
