Dialogue behind closed doors will most likely be the more productive option for the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and top pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena in their ongoing dispute.
The Philippine Sports Commission, headed by chairman William Ramirez, said this in a statement after the PATAFA formed two committees to clarify and decide on the charges that Obiena may have falsified liquidation reports and failed to turn over payment amounting 85,000 euros for his coach Vitaliy Petrov at a specific time.
“While we wish for the matter to be handled with confidentiality, we are bound by duty to mediate and call both parties to the table in the interest of truth and arresting the damage this tussle has done on our country’s image in the international sporting world. We now demand the parties to refrain from issuing statements to the public and on social media,” the agency said in a statement.
“Even before issuing our previous statement that ‘we shall intervene when appropriate,’ we have already quietly started a series of separate dialogues with each of the concerned parties, with the quick and just resolution of the issue in mind,” the PSC said.
Liquidation paperwork on the receipt of Petrov’s funding allocation is being looked into by an independent PATAFA panel, which is also evaluating the affidavit of top World Athletics official Sergey Bubka and the written statements of Obiena’s coach alleging that he did not receive any monthly coach’s fees from 2018 to 2021.
Bubka, who used to be the top pole vaulter of Ukraine and is now its National Olympic Committee chief, first met Obiena back in 2013 through PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico when he visited the country.
A year later, Bubka endorsed Obiena for a scholarship at the International Association of Athletic Federations Training Center in Italy.
Since then, Obiena found himself a mentor in Bubka’s former coach, Petrov, who is the director of the facility.
When Obiena’s scholarship ended in 2018, the PATAFA started to cover for Petrov’s monthly salary of 2,000 euros. According to Juico in an interview, the funds were sent directly to the Filipino pole vaulter, who according to his liquidation reports to the PATAFA and the PSC, were paid to Petrov, but which Obiena later admitted, were handed to the Ukrainian coach only recently.
But Obiena said he will now continue seeking an audit with private firm Price Waterhouse Cooper on his financial statements on the funding, as well as legal remedies over his plight.
If no resolution is forthcoming on his situation, Obiena said he will just retire from the sport.
Officials are looking forward to a peaceful resolution to the conflict and the PSC will most likely step in if none is found.
“The PSC believes that alternative dispute resolution is an efficient tool and alternative procedure for conflict resolution between the federation and the athlete. Should this option fail, we regret that the PSC shall be constrained to implement actions that would negatively redound to the concerned federation with regard to financial assistances,” added the PSC.
In a statement, the PATAFA welcomed the PSC’s stand, saying it “will support whatever the PSC decides.”
“To to help clarify what is essentially a simple matter of checking authenticity and accuracy of records to promote transparency and accountability and defend the welfare of all stakeholders especially athletes, volunteer sports organizations and administrators, government, sponsors and fans,” the PATAFA said.