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By Eddie G. Alinea Contributor
THE Amateur Boxing Association of
the Philippinesis set to bring its case regarding the
perceived cheating that marred the boxing competition in the recent
24th Southeast Asian Games to the International Boxing Association
before the year ends.
ABAP President Manny Lopez on
Friday revealed that the formal protest will be filed to
newly-elected AIBA head Ching Kuo Wu of Taiwan as a follow up to the
protest action the Filipino boxers staged during the finals of the
competitions where seven of them reportedly refused to fight their
Thai counterparts.
Lopez, son of former Manila mayor
and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Mel Lopez, said during the
Scoop weekly session that he is in the process of collating
available evidences pointing to the fact that there really was
cheating that went on in the Thai boxers almost sweeping all the 17
final events disputed.
Of the final events disputed in
17 weight divisions, 16 were won by the Thais with only one going to
Filipino flyweight Annie Albania, who knocked out her Thai opponent
to bring home the gold medal in the 112-pound category.
“Let what happened in Thailand
and the subsequent formal protest we are launching not deter us
though in our quest for as many Olympic slots we can get for the
Beijing Games next year,” Lopez told his audience during the
public service forum, sponsored by ACCEL.
“We are definitely going to
Thailand for the second qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympic
Games. We will not waiver in our resolve to institute reforms to
this remnants of corrupt practices that are have been happening in
the amateur boxing circle, which actually was our reason for staging
that protest action,” Lopez asserted.
Lopez, who came to the session
with Albania, silver medalists Jauviliet Cilem and Jun Tacuyan and
national coaches Roel Velasco, Nolito “Boy” Velasco and Glicerio
Catolico Jr., said ABAP will send five Filipinos in the Olympic
qualifying set January 27 in Bangkok.
He reiterated that the action
undertaken by the boxing team was not a boycott as other sectors
perceived, but a protest against the rampant unfair and unjust
decisions, not only the Filipinos but those from other countries got
in their campaign.
“We could not bear what
they’re doing, especially to our female boxers and what we did was
the only way we could dramatize the cheating,” said Lopez.
“We just want our countrymen to
know that what we did was in defense of our country’s honor,” he
added.
Lopez also reaffirmed his earlier
statement that the protest action was made collectively among
Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose “Peping” Cojaungco,
Secretary-General Steve Hontiveros, RP delegation Chef de Mission
Monico Puentevella and Deputy Chef de Mission and Commissioner
Richie Garcia of the Philippine Sports Commission.
He also disclosed that the action
taken by the team was in consonance to an appeal from Ching from
him as secretary-general of the Asian federation, to help him in his
drive to rid AIBA of the acts of shenanigans occurring during the
past administration.
“We have already talked with
Mr. China and he assured us, myself and Cong. Puentevella, that the
Philippine will not be sanctioned for what we had done,” Lopez
assured. “Besides, records will bear us out that the decisions in
regards to the last seven fights were all retirement. Meaning
lumaban ang ating boxers pero nag-retire,” he said.
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