INQUIRER Sports

TWO MORE PERSONS PRIVY TO the case of varsity cager Marnel “Mac” Baracael confirmed Saturday the Inquirer story that the threat on the life of the Far Eastern University forward was related to basketball.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident may have been related to the dropping of a member of the FEU team in last season’s tournament for suspected game-fixing.

“Baracael and another player reported the suspected player to team officials,” the source added.

While police remained clueless on the motive of the incident, another source disclosed that the Baracael incident may also be related to a recent UAAP game.

The second source, in fact, added there is another player who could also be a target by the person or group behind the Baracael shooting.

The source did not identify the player for security reasons, but said he was also a possible target because he played well in an FEU victory the Tams were supposed to lose.

Despite the proliferation of different theories, however, PO1 Sherwin Yumul, the lead investigator in the case, said “the motive of the shooting is still not clear” even after talking to Baracael extensively.

At least three unimpeachable sources told the Inquirer on Friday, less than 24 hours after Baracael was shot near the FEU campus, that the attack could have been the handiwork of people who wanted to manipulate the outcome of the Tamaraws’ games.

One of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the shooting “had something to do with games.”

Another source, an FEU official, said certain people wanted to punish Baracael after the cager “squealed on the existence of game cheats in the team.”

Fearing for their lives, two of the sources have declined further interviews. The Inquirer sought the third yesterday but his mobile phone was turned off. All the sources declined to say how they learned about the motive for the shooting.