Kiefer Ravena’s suspension on appeal

MANILA, Philippines — SBP president Al Panlilio said the other day he has received notice from FIBA that the appeal to reduce Kiefer Ravena’s suspension, which ends on Aug. 24, is now being studied with no indication of whether or not it will be upheld.

Last November, the SBP submitted a formal appeal, backed by voluminous documents detailing Ravena’s socio-civic advocacies as compiled by his PBA team NLEX. Panlilio said Ravena has strictly followed the terms of his suspension and deserves reconsideration, particularly as his offense was not deliberate.

If the appeal is approved, Panlilio said Ravena will be able to rejoin NLEX immediately, perhaps as early as the Philippine Cup. “We received a letter from FIBA that the appeal is under study,” he said. “We’re sure they’re reviewing each page of the documents we sent. We lost some time during the holiday season but we’re confident there will be a decision soon and we’re hoping it will be favorable.”

The new FIBA secretary-general Andreas Zagklis was appointed last Dec. 8, succeeding the late Patrick Baumann. Panlilio said Zagklis should be familiar with Ravena’s case as he was formerly FIBA’s general counsel and director of legal services. The decision to suspend Ravena was penned by Eleonora Rangelova, president of the FIBA disciplinary panel, and had to go through the legal department before it was affirmed last May.

Ravena was suspended for testing positive for prohibited stimulants found in his urine samples taken after a Gilas game against Japan last Feb. 25. In that contest, Ravena had 13 points, two rebounds and five assists as the Philippines won, 89-84. FIBA provided due process before handing out the suspension. 

Because of Ravena’s cooperation in the investigation, FIBA decided to cut the suspension from 24 months to 18 with effectivity on the date of sample collection, not the date of when the decision was made. So it was effectively a 15-month suspension. FIBA discovered that the stimulants were in the energy drink Dust that Ravena took without realizing the ingredients were banned substances. If Ravena indicated before the drug-testing that he had consumed illegal stimulants, the suspension would have only been two months. 

Before the suspension was announced, the SBP had sought leniency due to Ravena’s “exemplary conduct and his candidness when he was interviewed.” The SBP said it was an “honest mistake” and “there was no intention to cheat or unlevel the playing field.” FIBA took note of the SBP’s points, presumably resulting in the reduced sentence and shortened effectivity. But the SBP is now making a new appeal for reconsideration.

Panlilio said he plans to call on Zagklis soon at the FIBA office in Switzerland. “Now that the Christmas season is over, it may be time to follow up with FIBA,” he said. “Aside from Kiefer’s case, our counsel Atty. Aga (Francisco) is pursuing an appeal for FIBA to recognize Fil-foreigners as locals, not as naturalized players, regardless of when they were issued their Philippine passports. Under Philippine law, they’re Filipinos entitled to the rights and privileges provided by the Constitution.”

Panlilio mentioned that the late Baumann had once asked SBP chairman emeritus and FIBA Central Board member Manny V. Pangilinan what he thought of the idea of allowing countries two naturalized players instead of one. The limit used to be two until it was reduced to one. When the Philippines won its last FIBA Asia title in 1986, the rule then allowed two naturalized players Dennis Still and Jeff Moore. 

“MVP told Patrick in the Philippine case, we don’t need two naturalized players,” said Panlilio. “All we’re asking for is to recognize our Fil-foreigners as locals. There are 10 million Filipinos abroad and over 60 percent are women so inevitably, we can expect a lot of Fil-foreigners being born.” Panlilio said the push is to recognize dual citizens with ethic origins all over the world, not only in the Philippines.