THE Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) on Monday maintained its stand against Asian pole vault champion Ernest John Obiena, who a day after slamming his federation, started to gather allies from the athletes’ front.
The Patafa said in a statement released on Monday that it took exception to Obiena’s threat of retirement after he was compelled to return €85,000 (P4.8 million) in financial assistance for his Ukranian coach Vitaly Petrov’s salary.
The Patafa rebuffed Obiena’s claim of “character assassination,” stating that the investigation conducted by the federation Board “was purely internal and kept away from the public.”
It was, however, leaked to the media.
The federation said that it acted on a statement signed by Petrov, who informed the Patafa that he did not receive payment for his services to Obiena.
Petrov’s earlier claim was backed by a signed affidavit by Sergey Bubka, the former superstar pole vaulter who is now president of the Ukraine Olympic Committee. Bubka is also the senior vice president of World Athletics.
“Instead of facing the committee, however, Obiena organized a virtual press conference to press ‘the full and public withdrawal of the investigation and a full public apology from the authorities involved’ in the probe,” the Patafa statement also said.
The statement added: “The Patafa, however, is bent on asking Obiena if he had paid Petrov on time, as he had claimed in various liquidation reports he submitted to the association.”
The Athletes Commission of the Philippine Olympic Committee, meanwhile, called Obiena’s feud with his federation as a “national issue that needs to be resolved soon.”
“I consider this as a national issue and that’s a big loss for our country if we don’t resolve it,” The Athletes Commission said.
Commission chairman Nikko Huelgas, a champion triathlete, said. “Time is running out for our athletes who need to train for upcoming events, especially in the case of EJ who has a chance of winning a medal.”
Obiena, a Tokyo Olympian who is now ranked No. 5 in the world in men’s pole vault, threatened to retire from the sport if Patafa doesn’t retract and make a public apology. He is based in Italy and was in Rome with Petrov when he made the online press conference on Sunday evening.
Huelgas said that Obiena is virtually guaranteed to win gold medals at the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in May and the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
The Athletes Commission, Huelgas said, already filed Obiena’s grievances to the POC Ethics Committee chaired by Patrick “Pato” Gregorio of rowing.
“We are always here for the athletes and we are trying our best to support them,” Huelgas said. “He wanted the POC’s help so we assisted him in filing an incident report.”
Huelgas revealed that this isn’t the first time that the Patafa feuded with its athletes. He said Rio de Janeiro Olympic marathoner Mary Joy Tabal also sought the Athletes Commission’s help regarding her personal sponsors that ran against Patafa’s marketing policies.
Huelgas, however, clarified that the Athletes Commission’s actions are “recommendatory” and that the POC has the final say.
Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz expressed support for Obiena and posted “Support” on her Facebook account from her base in Malacca, Malaysia.
Senator and boxing icon Manny Pacquiao released a statement on Monday in support of Obiena, saying“as a fellow athlete, I feel what EJ is feeling at the moment. I’ve been in his shoes many times.”
“Patafa officials, please fix this,” said Pacquiao, who tried to woo Obiena not to retire and continue competing for the country. “There will always be people who want to stop you from succeeding but we will continue rooting for you.”