The Green Archers emerged champions in 2004 then finished second to the Tamaraws in 2005. But after the previous season ended, La Salle admitted fielding ineligible players in Tim Gatchalian and Mark Benitez when they won the championship two years ago.
La Salle voluntarily returned the tropy to the UAAP as it faced an investigation from the UAAP board. For its violation, La Salle said it was willing to take a leave of absence from the basketball competitions of the 2006 UAAP season which begins in a couple of months.
After a six-month investigation, the UAAP board the other day decided to suspend La Salle from competing in all sports of the forthcoming season. It was the same type of suspension slapped on Adamson in the ’90s due to an ineligibility scandal involving Marlou Aquino.
The 2004 trophy is now with the UAAP. But whether or not it would be awarded to the FEU Tamaraws is once again up to the board which can also declare the year vacant as far as men’s basketball is concerned.
Ricky Palou of Ateneo, a UAAP board member, said the board will soon deliberate on the matter.
"There’s no decision yet where the trophy will go. The board has yet to decide on that. Maybe on our next meeting we’ll tackle that," said Palou, who once played for the Blue Eagles.
"It’s a possibility that the team that finished second behind La Salle (in this case FEU) will be awarded the championship," he added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon, a true-blue Atenean, was not at all happy with the UAAP decision to suspend and prevent La Salle from competing in all sports events for this year.
"That suspension would hurt not only the institution, but all those innocent athletes who have been working hard and honestly to excel in their fields," said the Senator.
Gordon emphasized that "in studying how best to deal with the controversy, the UAAP must remember that many of the students on the DSLU’s roster want to built a career in sports."
He added that with the suspension, "all these athletes would lose the crucial opportunity to prove themselves through the UAAP and lose that chance at the all important break into professional sports, ultimately destroying their career."
In another development, former Philippine Sports Commission chairman and De La Salle alumnus Philip Ella Juico said he was strongly against a move by La Salle to appeal its suspension.
"My suggestion is not to appeal it, nor should La Salle bring it to court. What for? Sports games are won or lost in the playing field, not in the board or courtrooms," said Juico. —With J. Villar