UST, UP players facing ineligibilty as teams await UAAP decision

MANILA, Philippines – As if fans of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers didn’t already have enough to worry about the upcoming UAAP Season 80, reports have surfaced that the UAAP board has declared their Cameroonian star big man Steve Akomo ineligible to play due to residency issues. The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons’ new import Ibrahim Quattara is reportedly also facing the same issue.

Nothing final; issue in review

However, UST head coach Boy Sablan said that the board is still in the process of reviewing the residency issue.

“When I found out about that news, I was with our athletic director Ma’am Gigi Camus going here,” said the incoming sophomore head coach in an interview with Rappler during the UAAP press conference held this afternoon in the SM Mall of Asia Arena. “So I was not informed by Ma’am Gigi that he was ineligible.”

“She told me na sa board pa lang and they’re still reviewing it, so I was surprised na may ganoong decision. I have to confirm it to her,” he added. “Siyempre may appeal pa rin kaming gagawin.”

(She told me it’s still with the board and they’re still reviewing it, so I was surprised that there is that decision. Of course, we need to make an appeal.)

Sablan defended his new star, saying “Akomo is from Cebu. He played for 3 years na so he already [has] residency here for 3 years. Nag-residency siya sa akin [ng] one year, then they’re asking for another year.”

“I don’t see any reason bakit pa may one [more] year sa ruling kasi yun yung ginawa ni Karim Abdul before,” he added. “One year sa high school doon sa Cogeo – graduated, then one year sa UST tapos nakalaro. What’s the difference?”

(I don’t see any reason why there is still one more year in the ruling because that is what Karim Abdul did before. One year in high school there in Cogeo – graudated, then one year in UST then he was able to play. What’s the difference?)

“We already brought it up to the Board of Trustees (BOT) and it’s already being lifted,” Camus said in another interview. “Actually, the eligibility committee screened it then presented it to the Board of Managing Directors (BMD). Then the screening committee saw that thing [with Akomo], then brought it up to the BMD, [which they] lifted up to the BOT. So we’re waiting for their decision.”

The Cayetano Law

Meanwhile, UP’s head coach Bo Perasol explained his understanding of residency in a separate interview.

“We went back to one year [residency] after the Cayetano Law was passed,” said the former Maroon team captain.

The Cayetano Law is also known as the Republic Act #10676 or the Student-Athlete Protection Act, passed in 2015. Section 6 of this law states that if a student-athlete transfers from one college or university to another, “a maximum period of one (1)-year residency may be imposed by athletic associations.” UAAP, like CESAFI where Akomo came from, is one of the associations under this law since 2015.

However, Perasol said that the screening committee still deemed that Akomo and Quattara were unable to fulfill their requirements. ““We will appeal kasi we have basis for that,” he added.

UP is also currently appealing for the eligibility of Rob Ricaforte, as he was deemed to have surpassed the age cutoff of the UAAP. The cutoff date for 2018 was moved from July 31 to June 30, where Ricaforte will already be 25 years old. 

The basis of the appeal for Ricafortes’s case is that he was already enrolled in the UP before the new cutoff date was established.

UP’s Board of Trustees representative Ronualdo Dizer also clarified that the UAAP BMD “is not a policy deciding body” and have only elevated the issue to the UAAP BOT. “It is not final. It is the BOT who will make this decision.”

If declared ineligible by the board, Akomo’s omission from the UST roster will be yet another big blow to their rebuilding phase. Having already lost their entire championship-contending core of Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioag, Karim Abdul, Louie Vigil and Jon Sheriff within the span of two seasons, UST is left to heavily lean on role players such as Marvin Lee and Jeepy Faundo. UP Fighting Maroons, however, will still have the services of star guard Paul Desiderio along with talents like Noah Webb and reigning Juniors MVP-turned-college-rookie Juan Gomez de Liano.

The Growling Tigers now head to Season 80 with the goal of improving from their dead-last 3-11 finish last season – their worst in 23 years. The Fighting Maroons are also looking to finally crack the Final Four after a 5-9, 6^th place finish in the previous year. – with reports from Beatrice Go/Rappler.com