PH volleyball federation distances from reported men’s, women’s SEA Games rosters

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) has distanced itself from the reported men’s and women’s volleyball rosters for the upcoming 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games that circulated around media outlets last Monday, January 30.

In a statement on Tuesday, January 31, the country’s volleyball governing body said that it “could not put its imprimatur on the news – that came out in various platforms and media outlets – concerning the composition of the national teams for men and women.”

Initial reports stated that the 17-person pools would be headlined by Cignal star spiker Marck Espejo for the men’s side and the recovering Alyssa Valdez of Creamline for the women’s team.

“We are looking at a very busy 2023 and the PNVF calendar is packed with major local and international competitions, to name two – the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May and the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September,” the PNVF said.

“There, too, are other major international events where our national teams would be participating. As such, the PNVF has to be meticulous in the selection of the members of the national teams based on what the national coaches recommend for a particular competition,” it added.

The federation did add, however, that the official pools are coming soon.

“The PNVF appreciates the enthusiasm of the media as shown by their eagerness to publish the  composition of the national men and women volleyball teams for this year,” the statement continued.

“This only proves how healthy and perhaps how enterprising the media are as they show keen and  passionate interest in our sport of volleyball, which, the federation would like to believe, is already in the top tier among the Filipino sports fans’ well-loved sports.” – Rappler.com