INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—Far Eastern University (FEU) power forward Marnel Baracael was shot by a still unidentified assailant Thursday night supposedly to punish him for disclosing the activities of a mysterious cabal of cheats in the FEU Tamaraw basketball squad.

According to several unimpeachable sources in the university, Baracael earned the ire of a syndicate after he allegedly squealed on the existence of the cheats in the FEU team a few months ago.

Two of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s sources said members of the coaching staff blew their top when they learned about the influence of the game cheats on the team.

The sources declined to say if any of the FEU players was part of the syndicate, which apparently dictated the outcome of matches played by the Tamaraws as early as last season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) tournament. Not one of the sources revealed how he learned about the scam.

“Nag-squeal si Baracael sa mga taong involved” [“(Baracael squealed on the people involved in the scam”] said one source, a school official. “Ang nangyari, binalikan siya.” [What happened was that they got back at him.”]

The same source said Baracael was lucky to survive the attack which, “by its looks, was meant to silence him.”

The FEU veteran remained confined in an intensive care unit yesterday even as team officials and the police said the motive in the brazen shooting continued to elude them.

“We don’t know the motive; we don’t know if it’s basketball related,” FEU coach Glenn Capacio said Friday.

But when asked in a television interview if the threat on his life was related to game-fixing, Baracael said: “Siguro. Hindi ko lang masabi.” [“Maybe. I cannot say.”]

“Wala naman po akong kaaway” [“I don’t have enemies”], Baracael added.

Another player close to Baracael also hinted that the incident was game-related.

Baracael survived a single gunshot wound after an unknown assailant shot him with a 45-caliber pistol past 8:20 p.m. Thursday at R. Papa Street corner Nicanor Reyes Street in Manila.

“He’s stable but in bad shape,” said Anton Montinola, the FEU representative to the UAAP board. “We have no information yet” on the motive, he said. “We cannot speculate.” With editing by INQUIRER.net