UAAP not in a position to make decision on new season, says Saguisag

THE UAAP is not in a rush to make any decisions regarding its future.

UAAP executive director Rebo Saguisag clarified that the league is still closely monitoring the situation brought upon by the global COVID-19 pandemic and when everything stabilizes, that's only when the decisions can be made.

"There seems to be confusion when there shouldn't be," the amiable executive said in a message to Spin.ph.

"We are not in any position to make decisions right now. We'll meet after May 15 and a lot depends on what the health experts and the government will say."

UAAP Season 82 came to a sudden halt in March following the spread of the virus in the country and the subsequent Luzon-wide lockdown, forcing the league to indefinitely suspend operations.

The remainder of the season was eventually cancelled on April 7, putting an abrupt end to the athletic calendar.

Scrapped were majority of the second semester events headlined by the much-anticipated volleyball tournaments. Also cancelled were the staging of football, baseball, softball, athletics, lawn tennis, 3x3 basketball and juniors beach volleyball tournaments as well as the streetdance and the demonstration sport of ballroom.

The league's Board of Managing Directors (BMD), made up of the athletic directors of eight member-schools met in an online conference last month.

Saguisag said that the BMD will once again convene in a still to be determined date depending on what the government permits under the quarantine rules.

"Mas lilinaw lahat after May 15 hopefully. That, I guess, will be the first order of business. It depends are we in ECQ, GCQ, or MCQ, on what is allowed and what's not allowed. And then we'll build from there," he said.

Among issues to be discussed is if a general championship will be awarded for the shortened UAAP Season 82 given that much of the tally is dominated by the completed first semester sports.

Based on Spin.ph's unofficial tally, University of Santo Tomas leads in both the seniors and juniors division.

UST has 209 points in the college level, putting it on pace for its fourth straight and 44th overall general championship.

Trailing the Growling Tigers are La Salle (181 points), Ateneo (162), and University of the Philippines (137).

The same was the case in the high school level, with UST collecting 159 points and is poised for its sixth consecutive crown and 21st overall.

Behind the Tiger Cubs are La Salle (122 points), National University-Nazareth School (114), and Far Eastern University-Diliman (97).

Also a point of contention is the status of players who were supposed to be in their final playing years, especially those who are already over the age of 25 such as Ateneo's Kat Tolentino and NU's Risa Sato.

Ateneo, the Season 82 host, has not formally turned over the hosting to La Salle, which was scheduled to take over for Season 83.

Meanwhile, the NCAA is looking at November for its formal opening, and Cebu’s Cesafi scrapped its next season altogether.

"All those matters are tabled," said Saguisag.

https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-men/saguisag-explains-uaap-fate-not-entirely-in-league-s-hands-a2437-20200502