FILE PHOTO — ABAP president Ricky Vargas. INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines—The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines decried the false accusations that have been thrown at them following Tokyo-bound Irish Magno’s social media posts about the national boxers’ financial situation.
Magno bared that she and other national boxers training for the Olympics and the qualifiers had not received their allowances for two months leading to a social media outcry in support of the athletes.
Abap initially refused to comment on the matter, pointing to Philippine Sports Commission as the agency concerned. But it has now broken its silence, saying that it did not fail in its obligation as a national sports association and that the financial dues have been fulfilled.
“While we did not want to trumpet our efforts to help our athletes and coaches, we are now constrained to clarify that we have not been blind or unresponsive to their financial troubles,” said the group in a statement. “As a matter of fact, a week before Irish’s post, we indeed extended financial assistance to all our boxers and coaches.”
“Even during the lengthy lockdown period last year, ABAP also provided cash assistance to all our boxers and coaches as far as our own finances would allow.”
Magno, in a since-deleted Facebook post, shared her plight as she and her team train in Thailand for the Olympics with their allowances getting delayed ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
She’s since followed that up with a post detailing that she had to delete her previous one due to personal reasons and thanked her supporters for the help they received.
“We acknowledge the sacrifices and hardships our athletes and coaches go through in the struggle for national pride. And for this, we have always seen to it that they are amply rewarded for their achievements and have taken care of their basic needs in nutrition, sports psychology, strength and conditioning and the best possible training possible,” said Abap.
Abap President Ricky Vargas said his NSA will not prevent its athletes from expressing their views on social media and that they would offer concrete explanations to their boxers rather than reprimand them for sharing their sentiments.
“That is what Irish and other national athletes are asking for- an explanation and a concrete statement on what the problem is and they will surely understand that you ‘cannot squeeze water from a stone,’” said Vargas. “We need to be honest with them as we expect them to be honest with us.”
Fellow Olympian Eumir Marcial, who is also now a professional, supported Magno in his own Facebook post, saying that he’s already reached out to the authorities in 2020 asking for support but hasn’t felt any of it.