VITALY Petrov, the coach of pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, is on the war path.
In a lengthy post on his Facebook account, the legendary Ukrainian mentor blasted the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and its president, Philip Ella Juico.
“If this federation is dropping a world class athlete instead of helping; drops his coach who have trained him to be one of the best pole vaulters; brands a sport patron persona non grata who have done nothing but helped bring this Filipino boy to where he is now, then I ask, what is this federation doing?” posed Petrov.
“From the seven years of work that I have done with EJ, I have never heard Patafa or Mr. Philip Juico ask me what they can do to help me develop EJ. I have coached EJ for seven years and have helped him jump 5.93m, which is the current Asian record,” he added.
Last Monday, Obiena turned down a mediation process being brokered by the Philippine Sports Commission to settle his rift with the Patafa.
Yesterday, the Philippine Olympic Committee general assembly ratified by a majority vote the executive board’s decision declaring Juico persona non grata.
POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who said he will “fight for Obiena in case he gets dropped from the national team,” clarified the Patafa, as an organization, is still recognized by the POC.
Obiena has submitted and completed his liquidation report of the funds given to him by the Philippine Sports Commission through the Patafa.
Petrov, 84, insisted money has never been an issue in helping Obiena gain his world No. 5 ranking.
“Money has never been an issue. There are even times where I spend my own money, like paying for a gymnastic coach to help EJ improve. Coaching is my passion and developing athletes like EJ to reach their maximum potential is my motivation,” Petrov said.
“I coach EJ day in and out because of my passion and genuine care for this young Filipino boy. Truth be told, I call him ‘my boy’ all the time as I see my athletes as my own family like my own sons and daughters.”
Petrov took the Patafa to task for removing him as Obiena’s coach.
“Now that the time has come for EJ to realize his hard work; reap the reward of our time and effort then suddenly (the) Patafa cancels me as their coach,” Petrov said.
“I was never Philip Juico’s pole vault coach, I am the coach of Thiago Braz, Sergey Bubka, Yelena Isinbaeva and EJ Obiena.”
Athletes like Obiena should focus on their training and not be in charge of paying their coaches, according to Petrov.
“In my opinion athletes should only be thinking about their training and performance, everything else is an additional burden and distraction that they don’t need,” he said.
