‘WE WILL STILL APPEAL’ Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino (left) allays the fears of a basketball-crazy nation following Friday’s report that Justin Brownlee, a naturalized Filipino athlete and acknowledged hero of the victorious Gilas Pilipinas marketing campaign within the latest Asian Video games, has examined constructive for hashish use. —TRISTAN TAMAYO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
The Asian Video games (Asiad) gold medal gained by Gilas Pilipinas on Oct. 6, which ended the nation’s 61-year wait to regain basketball supremacy within the continental league, will keep in Philippine arms.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino is making the reassurance that basketball-crazy Filipinos don’t have anything to fret about.
“There’s no manner that we are going to be stripped of that,” Tolentino advised the Inquirer over the telephone Friday as he was besieged by calls from the media following information that Gilas ace Justin Brownlee had failed a drug take a look at performed by the league held in Hangzhou, China.
Carboxy-THC
“After all, we are going to nonetheless attraction the Worldwide Testing Company (ITA) findings,” added Tolentino, who can be mayor of Tagaytay Metropolis. “We’ve got till Oct. 19 to do this and we are going to do all the pieces we are able to to show that (Brownlee) didn’t cheat.”
Stories got here out that the urine pattern from Brownlee was taken on Oct. 7, a day after the gold medal match with Jordan which the Filipinos ultimately gained, 70-60.
Group Philippines beat host China within the semifinals, 77-76, the second time in simply 32 days that the Chinese language—who’ve had a stranglehold of the Asian area in basketball for many years—misplaced to the Filipinos. The second was marked by a 20-point drubbing within the comfort spherical of the Fiba World Cup in Manila, the place Filipino-American NBA star Jordan Clarkson led Gilas.
No less than 3 to be disqualified
Brownlee’s urine was discovered to comprise traces of the banned substance carboxy-THC, which is linked to hashish use.
He turned the second member of the PH delegation to check constructive, with the primary being mountain biker Ariana Evangelista, who can be within the strategy of contesting the end result with the assistance of the POC.
“The athlete (Brownlee) has been knowledgeable of the case. He has the best to request the evaluation of the ‘B’ samples,” mentioned a press release issued by the ITA.
Tolentino made that daring assertion as he expressed confidence that no a couple of Gilas participant would yield a constructive end result. Beneath the foundations of the Olympic Council of Asia, significantly for staff sports activities, not less than three gamers ought to be present in violation of drug-use guidelines for his or her nation to be disqualified or—in Gilas’ case—stripped of the gold medal.
“Since each participant on the staff has been examined already, and just one had come out constructive, there’s no manner that two extra will come out with constructive outcomes for us to be stripped (of the gold medal),” Tolentino mentioned. “All their outcomes have come out on the identical day and for them to search out extra, mahirap na yata gawin ’yun (it already appears tough to do this).”
Tolentino mentioned the gold medal winners have been all examined in Hangzhou.
Annie Ramirez, the jiu jitsu ace who contributed one of many 4 gold medals the Philippines gained within the nineteenth Asiad, took greater than two hours after her title match to give you a urine pattern.
“That’s why we all know that each one of our (Gilas) gamers have been examined already,” he mentioned. “As a result of all of us waited for them to give you their urine samples.”
2-year suspension, if . . .
The opposite basketball finalist, Jordan, was additionally examined after successful its semifinal match towards Chinese language Taipei, with traces of a performance-enhancing steroid discovered on guard Sam Bzai. The Jordanian ace, like Brownlee, additionally has the best to contest the discovering through the use of his “B” pattern.
Ought to Brownlee, who was naturalized earlier within the 12 months and got here up with dominant performances within the knockout phases—the 17-point, fourth quarter explosion towards the Chinese language the largest of all of them—does find yourself violating the drug rule after testing his “B” pattern, the worst factor that may occur to him is be suspended for the following two years.
The principles of the Philippine Basketball Affiliation (PBA), which have many similarities with that of the world-governing Fiba, additionally don’t strip groups of wins or titles in instances of drug violation. Gamers within the PBA, although, are fined closely and suspended lengthily, like within the case of Jimwell Torion of the defunct Crimson Bull.
Fiba additionally didn’t strip or disqualify the Philippines of any wins when it discovered Kiefer Ravena constructive of a performance-enhancing substance he ingested in a exercise drink throughout the 2018 World Cup qualifier towards Australia.
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Ravena was suspended for 18 months by Fiba from representing the Philippines internationally. Even his stint with then-PBA mom staff, NLEx, was placed on maintain for that stretch. INQ