PSC, POC to seek IATF ok for Olympic hopefuls

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) said on Wednesday they will now move to seek the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for national athletes—especially Olympic hopefuls—to return to training.

POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said the local Olympic body would first present to the PSC an updated list of athletes who have a clear shot at qualifying for the Tokyo Summer Games next year as recommended by their national sports associations.

“Both the PSC and the POC would recommend the list to the IATF, including the four athletes who already qualified, along with the proposed guidelines to allow them to resume training,” Tolentino said.

Presided over by PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, the virtual meeting between the top two organizations in sports was the first since the COVID-19 crisis erupted. “We initiated the meeting with the POC for the good of our national athletes. It’s always the priority as [PSC Chair William “Butch”] Ramirez loves to say,” said Fernandez, the agency’s officer in charge after Ramirez took a leave of absence.

Aside from Olympic qualifiers EJ Obiena (pole vault), Carlos Yulo (gymnastics) and boxers Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno, at least 60 athletes from 18 sports are looking to procure tickets to the Tokyo Olympics through qualifying meets.