Perfect Christmas gift

Perfect Christmas gift | Daily Tribune

Christmas is in the air in Philippine sports.

The top two sports officials — Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino — are expected to have a meaningful celebration of the Yuletide season after achieving peace within their respective organizations.

Bachmann will be at peace this holiday season. Just last month, he was alleged by no less than his own commissioner — Matthew “Fritz” Gaston — to have made some questionable financial decisions during his term as PSC chief.

Gaston even claimed that Bachmann tried to reimburse the travel expenses of his own daughter during the Paralympic Games in Paris last September.

Worse, the former Games and Amusement Board commissioner reached out to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to report Bachmann’s so-called irregularities before leaking them to a former PSC chief who posted it on social media.

Having warring officials is nothing new in the 34-year history of the PSC. But this was the first time the agency witnessed two executives openly declaring war and airing their dislike for each other.

But everything now seems a thing of the past.

Bachmann and Gaston appear to have buried the hatchet and are now co-existing inside the PSC boardroom together with the other commissioners in Olivia “Bong” Coo, Walter Torres and Edward Hayco.

In fact, Gaston, who reportedly lobbied hard to replace Bachmann as PSC chief, made a surprising U-turn as he has now become very supportive of the plans, programs and directives of the incumbent chairman.

Bachmann refused to admit it, but he stressed that “my focus is on the welfare of our national athletes, not on disputes or any other issues.”

Also slaying the ghost of discord is Tolentino.

Since assuming the POC presidency in 2019, there was a bloc of national sports association leaders who were opposed to his policies and even questioned the finances of the local Olympic council.

Things came to a head during the last POC election when squash president Robert Bachmann tried to secure a temporary restraining order that would have prevented Tolentino from seeking another four-year term for being an elected public official.

But the TRO didn’t arrive and Tolentino went on to win via landslide over Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga of baseball, 45-15, proving that he had an overwhelming mandate among national sports association leaders.

During the POC thanksgiving party a few weeks ago, four executives who were aligned with the opposition in Cynthia Carrion of gymnastics, Charlie Ho of netball, Jonnie Go of field hockey, and Jay Adalem of handball showed up to shake Tolentino’s hand, which appeared to have marked the end of the long-running cold war in the POC.

Although Loyzaga was not around, the presence of four of his allies only meant that peace and unity were now within reach.

There is no doubt that athletes, coaches, managers and other stakeholders are looking up to Bachmann and Tolentino. More than anything else, they are their leaders and they will have a massive impact on how the athletes will perform in the international arena.

Do not expect the athletes to deliver if the ranking sports officials are bickering. Whether they like it or not, they have to serve as role models, somebody who will inspire and boost the morale of the national athletes every time they face the best in the world.

It’s truly a blessing seeing ranking PSC and POC officials now on the same page — not just for the athletes, but for themselves and their respective families as well. What they received was the best gift anybody can have this Yuletide season: the gift of peace and forgiveness.

We just hope that whatever peace that was achieved in the previous weeks will be sustained and will soon reflect on the performance of the national athletes in the international arena.

After all, Bachmann, Tolentino and the other sports officials belong to only one team: Team Philippines. Merry Christmas!