Calvin Abueva was slapped with a P20,000 fine for ripping the game officials during Converge’s 93-99 loss to Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup last Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said Abueva appeared before him on Monday at the league office in Libis in Quezon City to formally express his regret for screaming “paldo referee!” on his way to the dugout following the FiberXers’ emotional setback to the Kings.

The PBA chief said Abueva was remorseful but they still imposed a P20,000 penalty to make sure that the incident will not happen again.

“He kept on saying sorry,” Marcial told DAILY TRIBUNE in a telephone conversation.

“But we still imposed a P20,000 fine for him.”

One of the most controversial players in the league, Abueva obviously got carried away when Converge suffered a late-game meltdown that led to its fourth loss in five games.

After trailing 93-95, the FiberXers had a golden chance to tie or even take the lead entering the crucial stretch of the contest. But Alec Stockton committed a turnover on an inbound play before suffering a botched defensive on Justin Brownlee that allowed Ginebra to widen the spread, 97-93m in the final 9.3 seconds.

Then, Brownlee calmly nailed his charities to seal the victory.

The breaks of the game of the game obviously didn’t sit well with Abueva — the most veteran player in the star-studded squad.

“Paldo, referee! Apat silang paldo!” he shouted, much to the surprise of some sportswriters who were taking post-game videos.

Marcial stressed that Abueva’s action will not go unpunished.

“Such malicious and unfounded accusation against our referees cannot go unpunished,” the PBA chief said in his letter to Abueva.

“Your irresponsible statement is tantamount to conduct detrimental to the interests of the league.”