Questions on whether the indefinite ban on coach Aldin Ayo will be lifted or not lies in the hands of the board of trustees of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
The status of Ayo will soon be known when the board tackles an appeal sent by the embattled coach, endorsed by school authorities from the University of Santo Tomas.
Last September 9, Ayo was handed an indefinite ban from participating in all UAAP events and UAAP-sanctioned activities by the Board of Trustees.
This was after the school submitted an internal report on its investigation on the alleged training bubble in Capuy, Sorsogon that the team conducted last July.
The coach and the team were placed under inquiry by the Joint Administrative Order Group composed of the Philippine Sports Commission, the Department of Health, and the Games and Amusement Board for their alleged safety and health protocol violations.
“The association will tackle the appeal in due time,” said the board in a statement.
Ayo eventually was cleared of wrongdoing after Sorsogon governor Francis Escudero, in a memo issued on Sept. 23, said he is in agreement with the findings of Philippine National Police probers, who disclosed that members of the team learned how to raise pigs and do farming activities, done in a low-risk area, and not basketball training.
According to sources, UST officials are not acknowledging the investigation done by the Sorsogon City Police.
School authorities are instead standing by their own findings that Ayo still broke quarantine guidelines of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases.
UST officials are asking the Board of Trustees for a limit to Ayo’s suspension to a fixed period of time.
