Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup gave harsh sanctions to the culprits of the controversial game that pitted the Siquijor Mystics against the ARQ Builders-Lapu Lapu City Heroes.
A total of 13 players and two coaches were banished from the league while six players and a head coach were suspended. Moreover, a total of P220,000 were slapped on Lapu Lapu City.
But that is just a slap on the wrist compared to what future violators will be handed.
League Chief Operating Officer Rocky Chan has sent a memo to the remaining teams of the Visayas leg and the upcoming teams of its Mindanao tournament that the automatic banishment and a fine of P1,000,000 will be handed on teams proven to be match-fixers.
“We hold ourselves and each of our players to a high standard, thus we will not tolerate these actions and we will enforce it by releasing a memorandum to all teams that we will be fining teams who do the same action in the future – a fine of P1,000,000 along with the expulsion from the league,” he said.
Chan also apologized on behalf of the league with regards to the “disgraceful acts” done by the Mystics and the Heroes. He stressed that it is an isolated case.
“We would also like to apologize to all our fans, sponsors, and to all the entire basketball community for this unfortunate incident. The goal of the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup is to serve as inspiration for the youth in our region to play the game that we love the most,” he said.
With regards to the league’s decision to call off the game at halftime, Chan assured that there really was a power interruption inside the venue.
He added though that during the lull, he talked to both Siquijor head coach Joel Palapal and Lapu Lapu head coach Francis Auquico of the “irregularities” being done by their players. But when the game resumed, there were still blatant attempts to tarnish the game, according to Chan.
“There was already an issue during the game itself. Nag-brownout then I personally talked to both coaches to play the game the right way. I gave them a stern warning but the players continued to do unnecessary things on the court,” he said.
The game was called off at halftime.
Commentators of the game also tried to cover up the lackadaisical free throw shooting of the two squads who shot a combined 4-of-29 from the stripe by saying that the ball was moist.
Chan assured that the league’s MDC ball had nothing to do with the poor performance.
The league official hopes that this would serve as a strong warning to those attempting to play the odds game that the VisMin Super Cup is not the league for them.
“This is a clear statement of the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup. Any deliberate actions by any player and coach are not tolerated in this league,” he said.
“If ginagawa nyo po ito sa ibang liga, wag nyong gawin dito sa VisMin Super Cup.”
