Ayo banned indefinitely

MANILA, Philippines — Aldin Ayo, who recently stepped down as head coach of Santo Tomas, was slapped with an indefinite ban by the UAAP for his role in the Tigers’ controversial training bubble in Sorsogon during the pandemic.

In a statement released yesterday, the UAAP Board of Trustees (BOT) handed out the hefty sanction based on the recommendations of the UAAP Board of Managing Directors (BMD) following a review of UST’s internal probe.

“After a thorough deliberation, the BOT ratified the decision of the BMD to ban coach Aldin Ayo indefinitely from participating, in any capacity, in all UAAP events and UAAP sanctioned-activities,” said the UAAP.

The UST report concluded that Ayo, who won two titles as a coach with Letran in the NCAA and one with La Salle in the UAAP, erred in putting up the training bubble last June and at the height of the pandemic.

The UAAP found Ayo “endangering the health and well-being of student-athletes under his charge.”

Ayo’s indefinite UAAP ban was issued just days after he resigned from his post as the Tigers’ mentor following a brief two-year stint highlighted by a finals appearance last year.

Ayo was the first UAAP personality to receive a sanction of such magnitude since La Salle assistant manager Manny Salgado was banned for life in 2005 following an altercation with former FEU star Arwind Santos during the UAAP finals.

Meanwhile, the UAAP spared UST from any sanction, allowing the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to determine any possible violations by the country’s oldest university or other individuals who may be liable for the said Sorsogon sojourn.