No ‘no-blood, no-foul’ in PBA

THE PBA will not turn into a "no-blood, no-foul" battle that will risk the welfare of players despite new rules on officiating that has led to more physical games, according to league acting commissioner Sonny Barrios.

This is partly in response to a letter of complaint circulated by the Alaska Aces a few days back, which questioned the new rules that have resulted in quite a number of flagrant and technical fouls and heavy body contacts that some find quite alarming than entertaining.

The letter was sent via email, signed by Alaska team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu and addressed to league chairman Tony Chua, Red Bull’s representative to the PBA board. Other league governors, Aces coach Tim Cone and members of the media were also sent copies of the letter.

"We want to assure Mr. Uytengsu that the application of the rules is meant to provide more excitement, not cause injuries to the players," said Barrios yesterday after a board meeting at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City.

"The philosophy, after all, is not meant to transform the games into a no-blood, no-foul contest."

Barrios actually received a copy of the letter from Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo only before yesterday’s meeting. He was instructed by Chua to draft a response to the letter.

"I will draft a response tonight and confer with the chairman," said Barrios. "I will sign it, get it noted by the chairman, then have it ready by tomorrow morning."

Barrios said the new rules have given game officials more judgmental powers but also heaved greater responsibilities on their shoulders.

"That’s why we bear hard on them whenever their error is due to wrong or inferior positioning, and to poor interpretation of the rules or inconsistency," he said.

 "We don’t want the application of the rules to result in unnecessary injuries."

The board also approved the annual PBA budget and tackled possible strategies to improve gate attendance and television ratings.

The board, in the absence of Talk ‘N Text representative Ricky Vargas, agreed to convene the selection committee tasked with finding a permanent commissioner, after the coming long holiday, and to wait until the next board meeting to hear the committee report of Sta. Lucia Realty’s Buddy Encarnado on the status of the proposed PBA coliseum.