As a displaced national athlete, Ernest John “EJ” Obiena will still be able to compete in international meets, including the 2024 Paris Olympics if he qualifies.
This will be possible as the Philippine Olympic Committee vowed to protect Obiena’s rights as a national athlete, with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association set to remove him from the national team.
“We in the POC will make sure EJ will be in Hanoi (SEA Games) and Hangzhou (Asian Games) and in all other major world competitions. We’ll fight for EJ,” said POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino upon learning of the decision that the PATAFA is dropping the pole vaulter from the national athletics’ team.
With PATAFA out of the picture, Obiena is being groomed to be part of the national contingent under the classification of refugee athletes.
Refugee athletes were introduced during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Under this program, athletes who have been displaced in their respective countries can be offered by their National Olympic Committees the opportunity to be supported throughout their training, preparation and participation in high-level competitions.
This is becoming possible now that the PATAFA is set to follow the recommendations of its four-man Administrative Committee, which made endorsements that they are dropping Obiena from the national pool and filing criminal charges against him.
The estafa charges that will be filed against Obiena is for his alleged misappropriation of government funds meant as payment for his coach Vitaliy Petrov.
Tolentino believes that the PATAFA has done wrong in imposing sanctions on Obiena.
“I expected EJ will be dropped from the national team by his National Sports Association as a vengeful act. The ball is now with the Philippine Sports Commission. Will the PSC allow EJ to be stricken off from the national team (SEA Games and Asian Games year)? Will the government allow a world-class athlete to be out of the national team?”asked Tolentino.
The POC chief noted that Obiena is an Asian record holder, the no. 6 pole vaulter in the world and the no. 3 best performer in 2021.
“Will the PSC allow one gold medal to be lost in Hangzhou long before the Asian Games? Will sports stakeholders—the public, especially, allow EJ to be out of the national team? Of course, the we in the POC will help EJ in his future campaigns,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino explained that the national sports association has the right to recommend or not, endorse or not, its athlete/s for international competitions.
But a provision in the International Olympic Committee Charter allows NOCs to also endorse athletes.
“In the absence of an endorsement from a national federation, the organizer/host owns a prerogative to allow embattled athlete/s—the IOC allows refugee athletes to compete in major international competitions (including Olympics), and we in the POC will make sure EJ will be in Hanoi and Hangzhou and in all other major world competitions, we’ll fight for EJ,” said Tolentino.
“The action of (PATAFA president) Mr. (Philip) Juico in removing EJ Obiena from the National Pool is an expected result of his expose. A vengeful act that shuts down the chances of the Philippines from its Olympic dream. The POC has made an early evaluation of this and, I am sorry that we cannot make our cards shown in public.
Suffice it to say that we are created for the Olympic dreams of our athletes and we will support our athletes in achieving their dreams,”Tolentino said.