MANILA, Philippines--THE INTERNATIONAL Amateur Boxing Association (Aiba) on Friday reopened the door for the Philippine participation in the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament slated in Bangkok, Thailand, later this month.

The Aiba on Friday instructed organizers of the Thailand meet to extend their deadline of submission of entries until Jan. 14.

The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (Abap) received the e-mail straight from Aiba executive director Ho Kim sent from the Aiba headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, Friday.

Thailand, through an Internet report by its paper The Nation, disqualified the Philippines from competing in the Asian qualifying for the Beijing 2008 claiming the country failed to meet the deadline originally set for Dec. 20.

But Abap president Manny Lopez brushed off the disqualification claiming they have yet to receive an official invitation from Thailand.

"We have sought the help of the Aiba and we're glad that they acted accordingly," said Lopez.

All-Thailand show
The Philippine Olympic Committee has also lauded the decision saying the Asian boxing qualifying is primarily a Thailand-Philippines affair.

If the country gets booted out, it would just be a Thailand show all the way, according to POC official Joey Romasanta.

Thailand has already qualified five boxers in the Olympics through the World qualifying in Chicago.

Lopez Friday said he received information the Thais are sending in four more fighters to jack up their gold medal chances.

First Olympic gold
Thailand won its first ever Olympic gold through boxer Somluck Kamsing in the 1996 Atlanta Games, the same year Onyok Velasco settled for a silver medal.

The Philippines is trying to send in six more in the 12-category boxing lineup after having secured a slot in the Beijing Olympics with Harry Tanamor.

"Dear Manuel, I asked General Taweep to send new information to all federations with new deadlines for the final entry as January 14th to accept late requests from additional federations," wrote Kim in reply to Lopez's inquiry.

Gen. Taweep Jantaroj, reported The Nation, barred RP from taking part in the Jan. 24-Feb. 3 event set in Bangkok after the country failed to meet the Dec. 20 deadline for entries.

However, several Filipino sports officials saw the disqualification as an off-shoot of the long-standing feud between the two countries, which came to a head when the Philippines walked out in protest during the men's boxing final round in last year's Southeast Asian Games held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.