Sanction for Perasol, but no forfeiture

Bo Perasol thinks his Blue Eagles can pull off another victory without him after the UAAP yesterday slapped another one-game suspension on the Ateneo coach for ignoring his previous ban in the men’s basketball tournament.

“I don’t have any doubts about what my team can do whether I’m there in the game or not,” said Perasol, who will still not be around when the Eagles try to keep their Final Four bid alive against University of Santo Tomas on Wednesday next week.

The UAAP board said yesterday that the new decision against Perasol is “not a second suspension,” but merely “an order” for the Ateneo mentor to serve his sanction.

“Coach Bo was in the game venue when he was supposed to be serving his suspension, that is why the board decided that he should be serving the penalty,” league secretary Malou Isip said in a statement.

But no forfeiture, which normally comes with the violation of the suspension, was announced.

Last Monday, University of the East filed a “clarification letter” to the board, noting that Perasol violated a league rule on suspended officials when he was seen at Mall of Asia Arena last Sunday, when the Eagles ousted the Warriors from Final Four contention, 77-72.

Perasol was banned for nearly storming the stands to confront a heckling La Salle fan.

Ateneo, in a letter to the league Tuesday, said that UE may have also violated the same rule when suspended player Ralf Olivares sat behind the Warriors bench in the same game.

The league bars suspended team officials to stay on “the bench or the venue” and players on “the bench and its immediate vicinity.” A violation of the rules merits a game forfeiture.

Meanwhile, the board forfeited the five wins of defending women’s basketball champion FEU due to an infraction of one key player. The penalty dropped the league-leading Lady Tams to fourth place with a 7-7 record.