Marcial to look into damning allegation

SMART CLARK GIGA CITY—PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said on Monday that the league will be looking into a malicious allegation hurled against a referee in the heat of Game 3 of the Barangay Ginebra-Meralco series in the Philippine Cup the night before.

A yet to be identified team delegate said, “Ref, lutong-luto ah! (Ref, the game’s obviously rigged!)” during a lull in the fourth period, which was heard on national television and has become the topic in sports media and even the league’s websites.

“We’re about to open an investigation on the matter,” Marcial told reporters here over the phone. “We can’t just point to people.

“This must be corroborated by referees, our table officials, my staff, and even the video crew. And I have yet to hear from them,” he added.

A number of spectators online pointed to Meralco veteran, Reynel Hugnatan, and tagged him as the culprit simply for being on the receiving end of a foul he went on to contest.—Denison Rey A. Dalupang INQ