Badolato Suspends Erring Refs In Ateneo-AdU Duel

MANILA, Philippines - The UAAP yesterday cracked the whip on erring game officials as it suspended three referees who officiated the Ateneo-Adamson game last Thursday for two games.

UAAP commissioner Ato Badolato sacked Glenn Cornelio, Lucio dela Torre and Dominic Pomar for their poor performance in the said game which Ateneo won, 69-66. The three are barred from officiating in the juniors, women’s and seniors games for two games.

“They will be suspended for two games for their bad calls and non-calls,” said Badolato.

The UAAP chief, however, didn’t specify on the missed and bad calls he was referring to in what many believed was a badly officiated match.

There were instances when there were two obvious backing violations that the troika failed to call.

There was one hard foul by Ateneo’s Eman Monfort on Adamson’s Jan Colina that was ruled an ordinary foul.

Adamson’s Lester Alvarez also suffered a bloodied nose from a swipe by Ateneo’s Eric Salamat, who eventually stole the ball.

Before the new season unwrapped, Badolato had warned officials that their performance would be graded and evaluated and an erroneous call or two could lead to a possible suspension.

“We’re going to be strict on this, we will let the players play and discourage our referees from deciding the outcome of the game with bad calls late in the game,” said Badolato.

“I will not hesitate to suspend referees who will be caught making mistakes, especially in the end game,” he said.

It also marked the first time that the UAAP is suspending three referees at the same time. The league used to sack a game official or two for their controversial calls.

There was even one official who was banned from the league for a late technical foul he called in the final two minutes of a game two years ago that the league felt influenced the outcome of the match. –

Joey Villar, Philippine Star