PDBF, PSC, POC.

This is another one of those alphabet-laced stories that has graced the sports pages with controversy and intrigue. This one has just about everything needed in a high-rating TV program: half-truths (or lies), the underdogs/heroes, the good guys, bad guys and twisting plots and sub-plots. And it isn’t about boxing. It’s another soap opera in the works, and it doesn’t look like a fairy tale ending is coming soon.

The characters? Let’s hide them under the names of PDBF, IDBF, POC, PSC, PKCF, OCA, and IOC. Get to know all these initials well. This is like a class in Political Science, but only on the sports side.

The PDBF sent a team that won gold medals at a world meet that was organized by the IDBF in Tampa, Florida. With the right connections of sponsors, supporters and the media, the PDBF team won the hearts of Pinoys, including that of P-Noy in a “good guy/martyr” role that came from a very well written script. “How can a ‘world champion’ win at the world level and not get the respect and congratulatory messages or rewards from the PSC and POC?” the big question was raised. ABS-CBN and GMA played up the issue while praising the PDBF to high heavens and also criticizing the PSC and POC hard for the lack of support and rewards for a team that had won at a world competition. Poor PSC and POC. Their lack of a good PR man, matched against the PDBF’s excellent scriptwriter, made them look like the bad guy. PSC and POC did find time to get some air time on TV and to face the press, but this was a little too late. The good guys/heroes were already praised by fans and given commendations by P-Noy, the AFP and the fans in general. So who really is the bad guy, good guy? And is this the real ad only story behind all this?

The irony is that the PDBF, PSC and POC are all actually right. And technically, nobody is wrong. You with me? For starters, the PDBF isn’t “recognized” by the POC because the sport isn’t recognized by the IOC, the mother of all OCs in the world. The POC says that the IOC does not recognize the sport of the PDBF. The PDBF should report to another NSA called the PCKF with which the PDBF wants no relationship. Thus, the PDBF can’t stand as an official NSA that can be part of the POC. It organizes its national team on its own and without the blessings of the PSC and POC. Moreover, the IDBF, the PDBF’s mother organization, isn’t part of the IOC and isn’t considered an Olympic sport. Here we see where and how the PSC and POC are correct in being careful about how to treat the PDBF. To the PSC and POC, the PDBF is like an illegitimate child who happens to be winning championships for the family. Sure, there are talks about politics and personalities, but I’d rather set this aside.

Another twist that deserves a second look are the gold medals that the PDBF won at the world meet. Are these the real gold medals that the biggest world-class teams vie for in the annual world meet? While we don’t want to take anything away from their feats, it’s only appropriate that the PDBF also talk about the gold medals that the bigger countries won at the higher level which we didn’t win. We did win medals at a certain category or level, but this wasn’t at the level of the “big boys” of the sport. This isn’t the same level of a world championship that the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, and Paeng Nepomuceno have won. Am I right or am I right?

 Yet another twist in this soap opera is how the OCA, our continent’s mother OC, actually recognizes the IDBF, and consequently the PDBF. Since the IDBF is based in China and the sport is Asian in origin, it’s only proper that the OCA recognize it. Remember the controversy of the past Asian Games when the PDBF couldn’t represent the country at the latest Asiad? This was actually one of the springboards to all this mess. Now the plot thickens. How can the OCA then recognize the ADBF/IDBF when the IOC doesn’t recognize the IDBF? And if the OCA recognizes the ADBF/IDBF, shouldn’t the POC do likewise?

At the end of the day, the solution will all revolve around not being too “legal” and technical about the matter and finding out what’s best for Philippine sports. If the PDBF truly represents the stakeholders of the sport, then let’s go with them even if the IOC doesn’t recognize DB as a sport. I’m sure there are other local or regional sports that we Asians play but which aren’t part of the IOC. It’s also time to review the technical guidelines on how the government or PSC should recognize world beaters. Note that according to the law, the likes of Pacquiao, Donaire and Paeng can’t receive anything from the PSC. Not that they need it. But if we recognize and reward Olympic and Asian gold medalists, shouldn’t world champions be given the same importance?

Solution to all this? Another set of initials: WW, win-win.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Vic Reyes. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].