UAAP board tackles FEU case, honors TRO

FAR EASTERN University still hopes to succeed in its quest for a third straight UAAP women’s basketball championship even if the Lady Tamaraws face forfeiture of majority of their games.

Vangie Soriano, one of the key cogs in the Lady Tamaraws’ dominant run, violated a league rule by playing in another tournament referred to as “larong labas” in the vernacular early in the season.

The UAAP prohibits its players in all sports from competing in other leagues during the duration of the tournament.

“It was brought to our attention, so we had it investigated right away,” said Anton Montinola, FEU’s representative to the UAAP Board.

“She admitted it. She played in one championship game of some league which happened after the start of the UAAP, which we didn’t know about. She won’t be fielded anymore but we still have a chance to make it to the Final Four.”

Soriano sat out the last two games of the Lady Tamaraws, who hold a league-best 10-1 record.

League secretary Malou Isip said the Board will decide on the case in a meeting on Monday.

Isip also said the UAAP “will honor” the temporary restraining order (TRO) a court issued last Tuesday that requires the league to stop implementing the two-year residency rule.

Former high school swimming star Mikee Bartolome, who sought the TRO, has been included in the lineup of the University of the Philippines women’s team two weeks before action fires off on Sept. 19 at Trace College Aquatic Center in Los Baños, Laguna.

Bartolome went to the courts to contest the controversial rule that requires high school players transferring to a member school for college to sit out for two years, unless released by the former school.

Bartolome wasn’t released by University of Santo Tomas high school.

Meanwhile, the cancelled Aug. 21 men’s basketball games featuring the rematch of last year’s finals between Ateneo and UST at 4 p.m. and the University of the East-UP tussle at 2 p.m. have been moved to Sept. 18 at Smart Araneta Coliseum.