By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - July 23, 2008
UAAP Commissioner Chito Narvasa has expressed his full trust on the National Amateur Basketball Referees Organization (NABRO) saying he noted improvement on officiating since handing out a series of penalties against officials for sloppy calls.
Narvasa said that officiating in the UAAP by NABRO members has improved after the first sanction was issued following the University of the East-University of Santo Tomas game last July 5.
"They are doing OK," Narvasa said. "Their performance has been better since."
Three referees were then suspended following the game between Ateneo and De La Salle on July 6.
After that, game official Bryan Tabanag suspended indefinitely for making two crucial calls in the last two minutes of the La Salle - Far Eastern University game last July 12 that may have affected the outcome.
La Salle won that game, 73-62.
Another referee was not suspended, but was reprimanded, after he called a technical foul on UE’s Paul Lee for trash talking during the Warriors’ match against UST.
As regards allegations of game-fixing, Narvasa dismissed it as rumors and said he had met with members of the UAAP board and told them he found no evidence to suggest they were true.
Narvasa said NABRO must look at the penalties as a challenge for its members to improve their profession and not as an indictment of the whole organization.
"How will one man’s mistake affect the whole organization?" Narvasa said. "It’s an opportunity for them to show their capability, that’s their challenge."
Narvasa said that aside from the UAAP sanctions, NABRO has also been handing down separate penalties for erring referees under its fold although he did not say what these sanctions were.
"NABRO has its own rules and has different clients," Narvasa said. "In the UAAP, they fall under my office so they obey UAAP rules."
"With regards to their performance, we give them guidelines," Narvasa bared. "The role of the referees is to be on the right spot at the right time. I told them that ‘manghuli kayo hindi manghula’."
NABRO has been the officiating arm of the UAAP for the last few years.
Last season, the NCAA, in which Narvasa was then commissioner, NABRO also officiated the games.
This season, the NCAA opted not to tap NABRO and instead hired referees from the Philippine Basketball League.
Custom Search
