Published : Friday, June 20, 2014 00:00
THE 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia  will never be remembered  by local sports fans for the many outstanding performances and record-breaking  feats by well-known athletes with names like Lewis, Bailey, Agassi and Miller.

It will be remembered for the  controversial defeat of boxer Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco  at the hands of Daniel Petrov of Bulgaria in  their  light-flyweight match that denied the country its first-ever  gold medalin the Olympics. It  will  forever  be “Robbery  in  Atlanta.”

The 1992 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania will not be  remembered for  Zamboanga City’s 15-4 win over Long Beach, California after a seven-run first inning.

It will be remembered for  the  shocking revelations by two Filipino journalists that Zamboanga City fielded  ineligible players who did not meet either age or residency requirements. The team was later stripped of its title.

The  2004 WBA featherweight fight between  Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez In Las Vegas will not be remembered for the Filipino’s tremendous power that knocked the Mexican fighter three times in the first round.

It  will be remembered for the judge, who admitted to making an error on the scorecards that led to the draw. If he had scored the round correctly, as the other two judges did, the result would have been a split decision in favor of the Filipino.

And   now   the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia will not be solely remembered for the  dramatic triumph by GM Wesley So over GM Zaven Andriasian of Armenia in their Armageddon-style  playoff match that rewarded the country its first-ever gold  medal in  the 54-year history of the ‘Olympics' of student athletes.

It  will also now be remembered,  unfortunately, for the  reckless and  irresponsible decision of the  country’s top sports officials  to withhold  recognition to So  even long  after the entire chess universe had  lavished praises to the talented, 20-year-old Filipino champion.

It will  forever be the “Peping Gambit’. Or the “Pichay Sacrifice.”

It will be remembered as a politically-motivated, revenge-driven conspiracy that went awry and  for which the local sports world must now pay a heavy prize: losing a national treasure that comes only once in many lifetimes.

Losing Wesley So.

Blame it  to  politics in sports.

It all started  in a simple power grab that did not succeed, like in a failed coup d’etat.

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) wanted to  expand its kingdom and  seize power bestowed by the  Federation Internationale du  Sports Universitaire (FISU)  to the privately-funded  Federation of School Sports Association of  the Philippines (FESSAP).

In 2013, the POC sent a three-man delegation all the way to Kazan to question FESSAP's legitimacy during  the  FISU Congress. The  POC representatives tried -- unsuccessfully, of course -- to convince the FISU family  to disown FESSAP and switch allegiance  to the POC-backed UAAP.         

A  favorable decision to the  POC would have left  So and the other  Filipino athletes stranded in Kazan for two weeks without getting the chance to compete.

A few weeks before the Universiade, the UAAP even pulled out several Kazan-bound athletes -- a chesser, judokas and swimmers --  from the Filipino delegation under a threat of suspension.

Needless to say, FISU reiterated its  recognition to FESSAP.

Is Wesley So to  be blamed?  No way. Clyde. 

When So agreed to represent the country in the Universiade, also known as the World University Games, he did not look at the uniform he will be wearing whether it has the POC or FESSAP logo in it. Or  whether or not  the signature of Cojuangco and Pichay are on his travel documents.

When he joined fellow Filipino athletes during the colorful opening ceremony shown live all over the world, So wasn't thinking of anything  -- not POC or FESSAP -- but the Philippine flag he was  proudly waiving during the parade of nations.  

When  he finished off  the brash Armenian champion during a heated playoff  match for the gold medal infront of a  stunned  but highly-appreciative  crowd, So wasn't thinking of anything -- not POC or FESSAP -- but the honors he will be bringing home to the Filipino people.

And when he finally climbed the stage smiling to receive the coveted gold medal while the Philippine flag was being hoisted ahead  Armenia and China, So wasn't thinking of Cojuangco or Pichay or FESSAP president David Ong. He was thinking of all of us.

Can you  blame him for feeling bad that his herculean effort is still not  being recognized almost a  year after the Kazan Universiade  was declared a huge success by Russian president Vladimir  Putin and FISU head Claude-Louis Gallien in  July, 2013?

“When I did not compete in the Asian Indoor Games and instead played in the World University Games (which was a very strong event), in spite of winning the first-ever gold  medal for the Philippines, I was denied the official recognition from the NCFP,” said  So during an interview with the widely-read  Chessdom.com

“No player should be treated this way, especially when I worked so hard to bring  pride to my country,” added So, now a sophomore student at Webster University in Missouri.

Can you blame So for  seeking a better system in a better environment  and  switching federations to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a world chess champion?

The  answer, my friends, is a big N-O.

Sports will remain one of our biggest sources for international recognition. There will be  many  new heroes who will follow the footsteps of Loyzaga, Pacquiao, Nepomuceno, Reyes, Torre and De Vega.

Some  heroes are forgotten, some   remembered.   Some sporting events are better left  forgotten. Some   are always   worth remembering.

And when we  talk about all the great ones, past and present,  there's always Wesley So.

And then there's the 2013 Kazan Universiade snub to talk about all over again.


For comments  and suggestions, email to edandaya2003@yahoo.com