The Philippine Sports Commission allayed fears of a possible suspension from the international arena due to the country’s non-compliance to the guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
PSC chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann told Daily Tribune that everything is under control and they are ready to dispute their case before the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
The Philippines is on the brink of getting banned from the international arena after WADA claimed that its national anti-doping agency failed to comply with several “critical requirements” in its anti-doping program.
With that, the Filipinos are facing the risk of losing their rights within WADA and might no longer be allowed to host major international tournaments. WADA is also tipped to propose a ban on flying the Philippine flag in major international events, including the Olympics, with Filipino athletes marching under the International Olympic banner.
If and when the sanctions push through, it’s going to be a major blackeye to the Filipino athletes, who are preparing to celebrate their 100th year of Olympic participation in Paris from 26 July to 11 August.
WADA already referred the case to CAS, which will make the final verdict.
“It’s the other way around. We disputed so it (the case) will go to the CAS,” said Bachmann when asked if Filipino athletes should get worried following WADA’s decision to elevate the case to the Swiss-based court.
Bachmann added that they will address the issue on Tuesday.
“To maintain WADA’s requirement of Phinado (Philippine National Anti-Doping Agency) being independent, Phinado will be in the PSA Forum on Tuesday,” said Bachmann, who will join the news conference together with PSC executive director Paolo Tatad.
“We have been focused on ‘ayusin muna.’ Now that medyo okay na, Phinado will come out.”
Aside from the Philippines, also in trouble for non-compliance are Nigeria and Venezuela while Angola is already flirting with suspension after opting not to contest the verdict of the Montreal-based doping watchdog.
“Other nations have it worse. Angola is in a worse situation than us,” Tatad said in a separate statement.
“We will dispute, yes. But all corrective actions and points highlighted by WADA were either signed off already or almost done.”
Tatad said it should be business as usual for Filipino athletes.
“Just carry on and focus on your training,” he said.
“The flag will still fly until a CAS ruling is made.”
