THE EARLY deadline for the submission of final lineups imposed by the Burma (Myanmar) organizers of the 27th Southeast Asian Games will definitely shrink the size of the Philippine delegation and hurt the country’s overall medal campaign.
Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia yesterday said several athletes could miss the Dec. 11 to 22 games in Nay Pyi Taw after the final submission of entries by name was moved to Oct. 10 or more than a month ahead of the original deadline.
“Some of our athletes are still in the process of training and evaluation. Then all of a sudden, they changed the deadline,” said Garcia.
“I pity those athletes whose qualifying events are not yet done,” he added.
The Philippine Olympic Committee-PSC task force has guaranteed slots for 152 athletes and 114 others who have to prove their worth through Asian-level meets before the original Nov. 15 deadline.
“We will now decide on something that lacks basis and thorough evaluation,” said Garcia.
The Philippines is competing in 26 out of 32 sports in the games after the task force removed men’s football, golf and women’s volleyball.