The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is calling on concerned national sports associations to submit a list of athletes they believe are deserving of scholarships that will be given by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
POC first vice president Joey Romasanta said the NSAs of Olympic sports have until April 28 to notify the POC of their nominees.
Only athletes who have winning potential, those likely to be named to next year’s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, the Asian Games and Winter Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, should be nominated by the NSA heads.
Romasanta said an athlete selected will get special benefits like a monthly allowance of $500 starting September this year until the runup to the Tokyo Games.
In the past, about 14 Filipino athletes were the recipient of scholarships from the IOC with the NSAs of boxing, golf, cycling, taekwondo, swimming, tennis, shooting, and canoeing as the lucky ones.
But Romasanta said selected athletes will have to maintain a level of competence for them to maintain their scholarships from the IOC.
“They should not only be active but should also be improving,” said Romasanta, adding that the IOC is showering chosen athletes with other perks like providing financial help in their Olympic qualifying tournaments.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, not one from the IOC scholars delivered a medal as it was lifter Hidilyn Diaz who came up with a silver.
