CAGAYAN Valley has apologized for the punching incident involving its head coach and announced its decision to leave the development league of the PBA at the end of the ongoing D-League Foundation Cup.
The pro league had banned coach Alvin Pua for life and fined him P500,000 for assaulting referee Benjie Montero during the Rising Suns’ 106-94 win over Liver Marin last week.
“There is no excuse for the incident last Thursday,” said Cagayan Valley team manager Frederic Collado in a statement Sunday.
“We are sorry it happened. Coach Alvin’s emotions got the best of him.”
PBA commissioner Chito Salud said the incident was “the last straw” as Pua had been fined and suspended several times in past seasons for assaulting other game officials.
Instead of replacing its coach, Cagayan opted to stand by Pua and decided to just drop out of the league after the Foundation Cup.