By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) President Atty. Antonio Cablitas is still eligible to vote in the upcoming Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) elections this Friday as far as the certified list of voters is concerned.
This came after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended Philta for two years during its Annual General Meeting last Saturday on the basis of “long-standing governance failings.”
Cablitas, meanwhile, said he is not appealing the two-year suspension and will instead lean on the recommendation of ITF President David Haggerty to fix the governance and representation issues.
These include gathering tennis stakeholders next month for an election in January 2021 as mandated by the association’s Constitution and By Laws.
Cablitas, however, clarified that the suspension was based on a flawed and defective decision of the ITF designated-Independent Tribunal.
Prior to the decision, Cablitas said in a letter to the ITF that a suspension “would certainly lead to the destruction of Philippine tennis in contravention to ITF’s objective to promote the game of tennis and enhancing international understanding and goodwill.”
The country is slowly making waves in the international scene with the recent achievements of Alex Eala, who won the 2020 Australian Open Juniors doubles title and made it to the semifinal of the 2020 French Open.
The sad plight of tennis could be partly blamed to its “commercialization.”
