MANILA, Philippines – The International Volleyball Federation virtually signed the death sentence of the Philippine Volleyball Federation on Tuesday, January 27, after awarding provisional recognition to the newly-created Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas Inc. as the umbrella group for volleyball in the country.
“I hereby grant provisional recognition of the LVPI as the new volleyball federation of the Philippines under the umbrella of the Philippine Olympic Committee,” FIVB president Ary Graca wrote POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr. from the FIVB headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
POC first vice president Joey Romasanta, tasked by the Asian Volleyball Confederation and the POC to reorganize local volleyball, produced a copy of the Brazilian FIVB president’s letter to the media on Wednesday, Jan. 28, after the POC general assembly meeting held at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong city.
“I hope that this lays the issue to rest and now everybody should work together for the good of local volleyball,” said Romasanta, who, together with four others, were part of the nine-man LVPI board when its documents were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission recently.
The other board members, he added, are POC second vice president Jeff Tamayo, POC legal counsel Atty. Ramon Malinao, Ateneo athletic director Ricky Palou, president of Sports Vision which manages the Shakey’s V-League, and Dr. Benjamin Espiritu.
Romasanta said that four other slots on the LVPI board were to be given to the representatives of the Shakey’s V-League, Philippine Super Liga, National Collegiate Athletic Association and University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
“These are key stakeholders in volleyball but we did not offer them right away since we were still awaiting FIVB recognition,” he said. “But all of these organizations were informed of the latest developments on the matter.”
Romasanta said that the provision including four leagues was clear in the incorporation papers the LVPI filed with the SEC “for matters of organization so amendments expanding the board’s membership would be easy later.”
He disclosed that AVC’s letter dated January 20 demanded that the complete board be done before Feb. 15 for the new group to gain formal recognition “but we could not invite this leagues until we had gained the FIVB’s backing. Now that we have it, this can be done earlier than the Feb. 15 deadline.”
With the FIVB giving its blessings to the new group, Romasanta said that LVPI also secured the POC’s provisional recognition “because they go hand in hand.”
Acting PVF president Karl Chan, who was not invited to yesterday’s POC general assembly meeting, was upset when informed of the latest development just days after the PVF held its own general assembly and named a new board to unify its ranks.
“We were not informed of this communication from the FIVB and its decision. But we are forwarding our own letter to the world volleyball body since this move (in withdrawing recognition from the FIVB) lacks due process,” Chan said.
Romasanta disclosed that as part of the LVPI’s formal recognition by the FIVB, the new group was committed to undertake the projects that were earlier assigned to the PVF, including the Philippine hosting of the Asian Under-23 Women’s Volleyball Championships in May.
“I’ve already staked my reputation on this and will comply with these demands,” he said, adding that among his priorities was forming the national teams for the Asian tourney and the Singapore Southeast Asian Games in June.
“As I have been saying, my plan is to have a common pool for the Asian Under-23 and Singapore SEA Games for the women’s national team,” he said. – Rappler.com
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