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EIGHT
players, including International Master Ronald Dableo,
and not just six could be meted sanctions after an
investigating committee of the National Chess Federation
of the Philippines (NCFP) said it has proof they rigged
the results of three local tournaments last
year.
With
Dableo on the list bared to BusinessMirror by IM Jayson
Gonzales, a member of the NCFP committee, are National
Master Oliver Barbosa and unranked players Dino Ballecer,
Ranier Labay and Merben Roque and Woman Fide Master
Sheerie Joy Lomibao and WNMs Enerose Magno and Christy
Bernales.
According to Gonzales, the five-man investigating body
has in its possession the score sheets of the First GMA
Cup, the National Championship and the Interprovincial
Championship and that they reveal incriminating
evidence, against the eight players.
“’’Yan
‘yung mga pangalan na lumabas na sangkot sa
game-fixing base du’n sa score sheets na ni-review
namin,” said Gonzales.
Grandmaster Mark Paragua and IM Darwin Laylo were not on
the list because the committee does not have the score
sheets of the Tanauan Open, where the two were
implicated. Gonzales said they did not have the score
sheets of the said tournament.
Gonzales
did not say how incriminating the evidence is. In a
separate interview also yesterday with NCFP president
Prospero Pichay, the Surigao congressman said they will
announce the verdict in two weeks.
Pichay,
however, stressed the players will be given a chance to
air their side on the alleged scam which the NCFP dubbed
as “networking.” In the scam, the players rig results of
their matches with a guarantee that they have to get
their share of the prize money.
“The
investigating group had told me that by Monday, the
report will be ready. So if they can make it then, I
will call for a board meeting on Thursday, and I think
it will be over by the following week,” Pichay said.
The
probe team is headed by NCFP tournament chairman Willie
Abalos with Gonzales, International Arbiter Gene
Poliarco, National Arbiters Elias Lao and Patrick Lee as
members.
But
according to NCFP executive director Atty. Sammy Estimo,
the eight players are just “some of the suspects.”
“There
are still others who will be called to trial. Selected
tournaments lang kasi ang tiningnan nu’ng grupo ni
Abalos, at hindi na pwede ’yun. Kung talagang
lilinisin natin ang chess, we should look at all the
tournaments where game-fixing had allegedly occurred.
Huwag tayong maging bias,” said Estimo.
Interestingly, Estimo has conducted what could be an
informal and separate investigation which includes the
Tanauan Open, where a sixth player, Enerose Magno, is
said to have rigged her match. Magno is not on the list
Gonzales showed to BusinessMirror, but was on the
initial roster of six that included Paragua.
Neither
Gonzales nor Estimo, however, revealed if the father of
one of the players on the list have stood as witness to
the scam.
Lomibao,
meanwhile, denied her involvement in the scam. “That’s
not true. I never involved myself in game-fixing, and I
can swear to that,” said the 27-year-old four-time
Olympian.
“Hindi
ko alam kung bakit ako nadamay diyan gayong ’yung
sinasabi nila na tournament—’yung National
Championship—na nag-game-fixing daw ako ay
hindi naman ako nananalo. Nasa kangkungan nga ako nun,”
she added.
Lomibao
said she was surprised to find out that her name was
dragged into the mess. “Pati family ko nga nagulat at
lahat kami apektado. Masakit madamay sa isang gulo na
wala ka namang kasalanan. So
sana matapos na
’to at malinis na ang aking pangalan.”
Paragua
has earlier denied he has ever rigged a match, hinting
certain personalities in the chess community are out to
discredit him as the country’s No. 1 player in terms of
Elo rating.
The NCFP
board will have the final say on the recommendation of
the investigating body. In meting out sanctions,
two-third of the 15-member board should agree. |
