POC sticks to strict criteria

BY TRINA IBARLE-ORQUIZA

ALTHOUGH the Philippine Olympic Committee wants a big contingent for the Guangzhou Asian Games in November, it will stick to the strict criteria laid down by the body in selecting the final members of the national squad.
This was stressed yesterday by POC official Joey Romasanta, the country’s chief-of-mission to the Asiad, who said the criteria will be fully enforced.
To qualify for the national roster, athletes should be within the gold-to-bronze medal range in the last Asiad in Doha, Qatar; and must have won tournaments in Asia. Athletes aged 18-and below will also be considered for the team if they have the potential to make it big.
"The three categories under the criteria can speak for themselves. Kung ano ang criteria, ‘yun ang masusunod," said Romasanta, who stressed the "have money, will travel" policy previously okayed for past international events will not apply this time.
Last week, the POC submitted an initial roster of approximately 400 names to the Guangzhou organizers, with Romasanta saying: "We sent the athletes’ list for an advance provisional accreditation. We estimated a big team size, but it does not mean ‘yun na ‘yun."
The POC has until Aug. 2 to finalize the national roster.
Romasanta bared yesterday that several National Sports Associations were still pushing for the inclusion of their athletes for the Asiad, some of them saying it will be part of their preparations for the next Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.
"’Yung mga talagang qualified (athletes), walang problema. Pero may ibang hindi qualified na nagpapa-qualify pa. ‘Yun ang mahirap," said Romasanta.