One of the photos of the incident at San Beda gym earlier that went viral on the internet. Coach Roger Gorayeb (in paley yellow with blue stripe) can be seen lying on the floor.
MANILA, Philippines — San Sebastian volleyball coach Roger Gorayeb has filed charges of physical injuries following a brawl Friday that involved the NCAA men’s champion team San Beda in the women’s volleyball tournament yesterday at the San Beda gym.
The riot—which allegedly started when a San Sebastian men’s volleyball player insulted San Beda’s American cager Ola Adeogun with racial slurs—disrupted the match between the Lady Stags and the Perpetual Help Lady Altas.
“He can do what he wants,” San Beda coach Frankie Lim said of Gorayeb in a TV interview. “I did not start the fight. I was there to fix it. He threw cuss words at me and punched me.”
Gorayeb said, however, that the Stags were only chanting during the warm-ups and did not insult Adeogun.
The San Beda men’s basketball team just finished their training before the volleyball games started in the same gym.
Both camps had different versions on who started and what happened during the melee, but Gorayeb ended up sustaining the most injuries with contusions on his face and body.
Gorayeb had secured a medical certificate from the Jose Rizal Memorial Hospital before filing charges against Lim and the Red Lions.
“I was already down on the floor but they still kept on kicking me,” Gorayeb said in Filipino, noting that aside from Lim, some members of San Beda’s basketball team ganged up on him.
Gorayeb said that several Lady Stags who tried to shield him during the brawl also got hit, including libero Mae Denise Crisostomo, who was punched in the face.
“I pity the girls, they were just trying to protect me,” said Gorayeb.
The NCAA Management Committee is expected to issue sanctions on the coaches and players involved in the incident.
“We can’t let this pass because this is not good for the league,” said San Sebastian athletic moderator Frank Gusi.