UAAP changes referees to counter game fixing
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/08/2009 11:05 AM
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MANILA – The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball league is tapping three officiating groups for this season to counter alleged game fixing in the league.
The UAAP Board announced during its press conference last Monday that the league will be using the combined forces of referees from the Basketball Referee's Association for Schools, Colleges and Universities (BRASCU), Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The UAAP will no longer employ services from the National Amateur Basketball Referees Organization (NABRO) after one of its referees, Brian Tabañag, was indefinitely suspended last year. ABS-CBN sources said Tabañag’s suspension was related to game fixing.
“Now that we have three groups, it would be harder to cheat the games. I'm confident we can get the best referees from the three groups,” said Joe Lipa, commissioner of the UAAP basketball tournament.
The UAAP leadership earlier said it is against game fixing or any other form of cheating in holding basketball competitions and all other sporting events.
“We police our ranks and we shall deal with any such incident with a firm hand,” the statement added, noting that the UAAP “will not tolerate nor condone game fixing.”
The UAAP Opening Ceremonies will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The first game at 2 p.m. features the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers and Adamson University Falcons. This will be followed by the De La Salle Green Archers-University of the East Red Warriors clash at 4 p.m. Report from TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News
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