GROWLING Tigers head coach Aldin Ayo resigned, University of Santo Tomas (UST) accepted his resignation and the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) Group declared it would elevate the “Sorsogon City Bubble” issue to the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Along the same breadth, the JAO Group said it would formulate dent-resistant policies so much so that the Covid-19 pandemic protocol breach in the sports community won’t happen again.
All these transpired inside the last 24 hours starting at 9 p.m. on Friday when Ayo announced he is quitting his post to his players and in social media, and at around 9 on Saturday morning when UST released a two-paragraph statement accepting his resignation.
A few hours after UST’s announcement, the JAO Group, according to Games and Amusements Board (GAB) Chairman Abraham Mitra, “is studying possible violations” committed by Ayo and UST and would submit its recommendations to the DoJ on Monday.
The same goes with National University (NU), Mitra said. Dozens of NU student athletes remained at the school’s Manila and Calamba campus during the quarantine with university officials failing to send everyone home.
Although word has leaked Ayo was bound to resign and UST would be accepting the coach’s move days earlier, the university made official its acceptance of the coach’s decision in a brief statement from its Secretary General’s Office through Associate Prof. Giovanna Fontanilla, Ph.D., APR, Director of the UST Office of Public Affairs.
“It is with a heavy heart that the University of Santo Tomas accepts the resignation of Mr. Aldin Ayo, Head Coach of the UST Men’s Basketball Team, together with the resignations of Mr. Mcjour Luib and Mr. Jinino Manansala as Assistant Coaches,” the UST statement said.
“Rest assured that the university wil remain committed to the welfare of the student athletes and that the process of rebuilding athletic programs, particularly that of the Men’s Basketball Team, through compassion and competence, will commence,” the statement concluded.
UST’s acceptance of Ayo’s resignation cemented speculations that the head coach indeed conducted the “bubble” at the so-called “Ayo Basketball Camp” gym in his native Capoy in Sorsogon City, where he was a former councilor.
UST and Ayo have never gone in public to admit that there indeed was a “bubble” and that the Growling Tigers were obliged to join the forbidden activity for three months amid the ongoing quarantine.
The “bubble” controversy slammed hard on the UST men’s basketball team with five of its members— CJ Cansino, Brent Paraiso, Ira Bataller, Rhenz Abando and Jun Asuncion—shedding off their golden yellow jerseys.
The JAO Group stayed on its toes on a weekend and met on Saturday not merely to recommend sanctions, but more importantly to adopt measures to prevent a repetition of the breach.
“We will meet with the professional leagues [on Monday] as we try to draw the best practices for training during the pandemic,” Mitra told BusinessMirror. “With these best practices, we would be able to draw policies which the amateurs [players and leagues] would follow.”
The JAO Group has already allowed the Philippine Basketball Association, Chooks to Go 3×3 League, Philippine Football Federation and the Philippine Football League to return to training under strict health and safety guidelines.
“I am confident that the pros would be willing to share what they are doing because after all, it’s one industry and everyone is concerned with each other,” Mitra said. “If an accident happens to one, then the whole group is affected.”
UST was also asked to refrain from making further statements or answering questions from the media, Mitra said.
The JAO Group is composed of the GAB, Philippine Sports Commission, Department of Health and Commission on Higher Education. It was tasked by the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to manage protocols for sports during the pandemic.