The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference began with a touch of confusion due to Nxled and Galeries bringing two “imports” to Philsports Arena, prompting league commissioner Sherwin Malonzo to address the matter on Tuesday.
After a thrilling five-set match between Nxled and Galeries, in which the Chameleons emerged victorious, Malonzo took the opportunity to clarify the regulations surrounding the rules for imports.
This clarification came after pre-game reports indicated that Nxled chose American middle blocker Meegan Hart as their import over Chinese wing spiker Xuanyao Jiang.
(C) Joaqui Flores/PVL
Concurrently, Galeries made a last-minute switch, replacing Brazilian Monique Helena with Thai outside spiker Sutadta Chuewulim, who had arrived just the previous night.
“Nagkaroon ng misconception. Hindi sila tagdalawang import,” Malonzo explained before the second game of the day.
“Lahat ng teams natin tig-iisang import lang let’s make it clear. In the case of Galeries, they had to change their import on the last minute because of physical problems. Technically it’s just one import di listed yung isa.”
(C) Joaqui Flores/PVL
Malonzo further detailed the situation with Nxled, stating, “In the case of Nxled, same thing, yung Chinese kasi yung nauna nilang import supposedly hindi pa sila final with her and then kumuha pa sila ng isa pa which is Meegan Hart so I think yun yung gusto nilang import.”
The commissioner also emphasized the strict guidelines for changing imports, which are only permitted under two specific circumstances.
“Ang rules natin hindi ka pwede magpalit the only time na pwede ka magpalit is two things. No.1 is kung nainjure yung player during the conference or No.2 abandonment of commitment, if she suddenly disappears, goes home, ayaw ko na maglaro or biglang nilayasan sila that’s the time they can replace,” Malonzo said. “Di sila pwede magreplace na mas magaling to kaya pinalitan namin.
To reinforce his point, Malonzo concluded, “Two, rules lang. Yung naglaro kanina that’s it, yun na final, touch move kumbaga.”
