Cycling crisis unresolved; court action up

MANILA, Philippines –  Despite the agreement to form a unified cycling team bound for the 26th Southeast Asian Games slated Nov. 11-25 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the leadership dispute in cycling remains far from over.

Warring leaders Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philip Ella Juico are not keen on holding a unified election but the two cycling heads could opt to elevate the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“If it will not be resolved, why not (go to the CAS),” said Tolentino, also the incumbent Tagaytay City Mayor whose group boasts of recognition from the Asian and International Cycling Federations yesterday.

“But that will depend if the CAS will entertain us. It is also expensive,” he said.

Juico, for his part, said it’s a better option to hold a unified election but said he too is amenable to elevating the issue to the sports’ highest arbitration body.

“I’m actually for a unified election where both parties would be represented equally and if the election would be supervised by non-partisan individuals,” said Juico.

“But he (Tolentino) doesn’t want to take part of it, saying there’s no need since he has the UCI, or the IF recognition.

“So I feel it’s best if we elevate it to CAS and let them decide on this matter,” he said.

Tolentino, however, stressed he is the only person who could send petitions to CAS since he is the IF-recognized RP cycling head.

“The other group can’t file anything to the CAS because they’re not recognized by UCI, they have no personality,” said Tolentino.

Both Tolentino and Juico attended a recent House hearing seeking a resolution to the leadership squabble where both parties agreed in principle to come up with a unified national team for this year’s SEA Games.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. recently said he will personally oversee and supervise the training of the unified team although he would need to ask Tolentino and Juico to sign an official agreement that they would support it.

“I would ask them to sign a contract to ensure that there would be no problems in Indonesia,” said Cojuangco.