Track and field Fil-American stars Eric Shauwn Cray and Trentem Beram could face sanctions, or worse, be dropped from the national team by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association if found guilty of intentionally missing the 2018 Korean Open last week.
Athletics’ chief Philip Ella Juico on Tuesday revealed the PATAFA is currently investigating the two sprinters after finding out that they did not compete in the Korean Open, which was a very crucial part of their preparation for the coming Asian Games campaign in Indonesia.
Cray and Beram were supposed to suit up in the men’s 4×100-meter relay with Anfernee Lopena and Clinton Bautista to improve their International Association of Athletics Federations’ ranking and boost their campaign for the coming Asiad.
But the duo never did.
They just submitted a two-paragraph letter to the Patafa office, expressing regret about their failure to compete due to miscommunication, an act which Juico deemed unfair and unacceptable.
“The Korean Open is a very crucial tournament because we need to gain points for their IAAF ranking, which I would use in justifying their participation in the 4×100 event of the Asian Games,” Juico said. “They didn’t even notify me. All they did was sent our secretary a two-paragraph explanation, saying that it was a simple case of miscommunication. I think it was very unacceptable and unfair.”
The athletics’ chief said he already informed the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee about the possibility of dropping the two from their Asian Games’ roster, considering the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee’s deadline for the submission of names is still on June 30.
“We will have a teleconference tonight with their parents,” said the former PSC chairman, minister of Agrarian Reform and dean of De La Salle University Graduate School. “I want to know if they are still willing to play for the country because it seems that they’re no longer interested based on their recent action. But whatever happens, they will receive an email from me to inform them of what disciplinary action we would make.”
Cray is a two-time Olympian, who also ruled the men’s 400-meter hurdles’ event of the Southeast Asian Games thrice in four editions, while settling for a silver medal in the men’s 60-meter run of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games last year in Turkmenistan and the bronze at the 60-m event of the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. He also won the gold medal at the 400 meter hurdles of the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, clocking 49.57 seconds to end the Philippines’ eight- year gold drought in the continental tournament.
On the other hand, Beram made it to the athletic spotlight after topping the men’s 400-meter and 200-meter runs of the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
The two joined the Ayala Philippine Athletics Championship in Ilagan City in Isabela early this month, but joined a limited number of events before going back to the United States supposedly to “prepare” for the Korean tournament.
If the two are dropped from the athletics’ team, they won’t be the first elite athletes to get the ax.
The most recent of them was Olympian Mary Joy Tabal, who nearly lost her spot a couple of years ago for training on her own.
Ryan Bigyan, Archand Christian Bagsit and Joan Caido, three of the four members of the vaunted men’s 4×400-meter relay team that bagged the silver medal in the 28th SEA Games in Singapore, were slapped with disciplinary sanction due to insubordination. Even SEA Games steeplechase gold medalist Christopher Ulboc was also dropped from the team for the same reason.
“We treat all athletes equally so even if you’re a SEA Games or Asian Games gold medalist or even an Olympian, if you don’t follow the rules, you have to face the consequence,” said Juico. “There are no sacred cows in Patafa.”