UNIVERSITY of the East has dropped its planned protest of its opening-day loss to National University in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament, noting that it only aims to seek clarification of league rules.
“We didn’t want the game to be forfeited (in our favor),” said UE coach Jerry Codiñera. “We just questioned why they allowed the wrong uniform.”
The Bulldogs overwhelmed the Warriors, 90-55, in the league’s opening game Saturday even minus Emmanuel Mbe, NU’s Cameroonian player who sat out the entire first half due to an improper uniform. He played in the second half after the team got a proper replacement jersey.
After the game, the Warriors placed the game under protest, citing that other NU players also had missing patches on their uniform.
The Warriors, however, decided yesterday not to file a formal protest to the UAAP Board.
“We’re just clarifying the league rules,” Rod Roque, UE’s representative to the Board, said.
Mbe failed to see action early due to a missing number patch on his jersey, a required uniform specification along with the athlete’s name and the league and school logos.
But the Warriors cited that several NU players had missing logo patches of a corporate sponsor on their shorts.
Commissioner Ato Badolato clarified that sponsorship patches are not considered as part of the “proper uniform.”