"We will go to the CAS and request that the POC expulsion be lifted and re-admit the BAP as regular member," said Lina yesterday in a press conference at a Malate restaurant. "We will file this within the month."

"We will substantiate that we were illegally expelled in the POC," said Lina as efforts to settle the dispute between the POC and the BAP appeared far from over as the POC insists it will seek the international basketball federation’s support in the pursuit of recognizing a new body for the sport in the country.

The CAS, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, but has satellite offices in Sydney and New York, is an instituion independent of any sports organizations which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world.

Ordinarily, cases are heard from six to 12 months, although in some instances, a decision can be reached at a shorter period, according to the CAS, which has 300 arbitrators from 87 countries.

Lina reiterated that the BAP is the recognized member by the FIBA, but the suspension on the Philippines remains in effect and that only the BAP’s re-admission to the POC is the easiest way for the FIBA to lift its suspension.

"Even if you are suspended, you are still a member. But you cannot play," said Lina. "Before the BAP can be replaced, the FIBA-recognized body in the Philippines must first undergo expulsion proceedings."

"Before another body is organized, the existing NSA will have to be out following the FIBA statutes on expulsion. In FIBA, there is only one NSA per country."

The POC and the FIBA had earlier inked a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at the creation of a new body for basketball, but Lina said the MoU was not followed to the letter as the four stakeholders decided to join hands in forming a new group without his consent.

Lina said Pilipinas Basketball, which would soon be admitted in the POC as the governing body for basketball in the Philippines, is doomed just like the now-defunct Philippine Basketball Federation Inc. (PBFI).

"We were all working on a framework that features an amended by-laws of the BAP but this was not acceptable to the POC," said Lina.

Despite the dreary picture, Lina remains optimistic of seeing the suspension lifted so the Philippines can get back into active in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments like the 15th Asian Games that will be staged from Dec. 1 to 15in Doha, Qatar.

"Hope springs eternal," added Lina.

The POC, through Mark Joseph, president of the swimming association and part of the committee formed to handle the basketball impasse, had earlier bared plans to go to the same CAS if the constitution and by-laws of the recently-formed Pilipinas Basketball, an umbrella group made up of the Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Basketball League, UAAP, and NCAA, is rejected by FIBA in the aftermath of BAP’s distancing from the fledgling organization.

"Regardless of what the POC plans to do, we’re taking this course of action," said Lina, repeating his conviction the Pilipinas Basketball charter will not pave the way for the lifting of the FIBA suspension "because of that MoU."