AFTER months of dilly-dallying and even declining the process twice, pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena signed a mediation agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission last Monday to settle his issues with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.
Reliable PSC and Patafa sources confirmed the Italy-based Obiena has agreed to the mediation being brokered by the PSC initiated by Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.
Obiena had rejected mediation as late as January 24, accusing Patafa President Philip Ella Juico of “bad faith.”
He had demanded that he be reinstated in the national team as a precondition to agreeing to the mediation process.
Whether this turnaround by Obiena could save his participation in the World Indoor Athletics Championships on March 18-20 in Belgrade, Serbia remains up in the air, according to a Patafa source, who declined to be identified.
The local track body renewed its commitment to the mediation process last March 1.
The same source disclosed that Obiena had sent Patafa a letter last Feb. 24 requesting that he be endorsed for the world meet and three other competitions that will require Patafa certification. These are the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in May; 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA from July 15-24; and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from Sept. 12-25.
Obiena cited his wins in the Orlen Cup and Orlen Copernicus Cup last Feb. 13 and 23, respectively, both in Poland while setting identical season-best jumps of 5.81 meters for consideration to the national team.
“I am submitting this letter to request for my endorsement to these events and facilitating my inclusion to the national teams being formed,” wrote Obiena, who concluded his correspondence with “respectfully yours.”
The Patafa insider said the National Sports Association replied to Obiena last Monday saying “the PATAFA Board will not act on your letter dated Feb. 24 pending completion of the mediation process organized by the Philippine Sports Commission. Nevertheless, the PATAFA Board of Trustees recognizes the urgency of the request and will fully cooperate with the PSC.”
Patafa has found an important ally in World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who wrote Juico last Feb.8 asserting Patafa’s authority as the “sole governing body of athletics” in the country while considering its issues with Obiena as an “internal matter.”
The source said that Obiena had asked World Athletics Executive Director Jon Ridgeon to intervene on his behalf regarding his participation in the world indoor meet in January and on Feb. 9 after the Uppsala Pole Vault Invitational in Uppsala, Sweden.
The Patafa response to Ridgeon in both instances was that it “was unable to confirm the participation of Mr. Obiena in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade at this time, especially now with the mediation process by the PSC set to proceed,” the source said.
The source said Juico did not look too kindly at Obiena wanting to “have his cake and eat it, too.”
The source said Patafa was merely exercising “proper governance” when it conducted a private administrative inquiry, following a casual conversation in September among Juico, World Athletics Senior Vice President Sergey Bubka and the athlete’s coach, Vitaly Petrov, where it emerged that Petrov had not been paid his wages until August 2021.
Petrov’s wages came from the financial aid given by the PSC directly to Obiena as part of his training and competition expenses in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Obiena’s complaint against Juico resulted in the POC general assembly last Jan. 26 declaring Juico as persona non grata, which the athletic head claimed was railroaded because there had been no discussion about the matter during the actual meeting.
