UAAP execs to clear up Season 83 fate

MANILA, Philippines – Burning questions on the uncertain University Athletic Association Philippines (UAAP) season amid the still unresolved COVID-19 pandemic will be answered Tuesday with the guesting of top league officials in this week’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum webcast.

The session starts at 10 a.m. with executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag and UAAP president Emmanuel Fernandez of last season's host Ateneo gracing the online event to shade light on the cloudy fate of the country’s top collegiate league.

First from the agendas to be tackled is the date of the upcoming 83rd Season in light of the still ongoing quarantine implementations particularly in Metro Manila.

From the traditional September start, the UAAP may instead raise the season curtain early next year due to several factors and the indefinite end of the pandemic as admitted by Saguisag in a previous STAR interview.

Saguisag and Fernandez are expected to detail the said possibility among many considerations being taken by the UAAP Board of Managing Directors, in the online forum powered by Smart and presented by San Miguel Corporation, PAGCOR, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and Go For Gold PH.

Also to be discussed are the issues left hanging by the scrapping of Season 82 last April such as granting affected seniors an extra year of eligibility and the status of the aborted second semester events.

Volleyball, football, baseball, softball, athletics, lawn tennis and 3x3 basketball were the remaining events called off by the league for safety purposes of the student-athletes when the pandemic went full-blown last summer.

With all the member schools reeling from the financial effects of the crisis, UAAP’s take on the number of sports to be played is also expected to be raised following the NCAA’s plan to host only the four mandatory disciplines for its next season namely track and field, swimming, volleyball and basketball.