BTW is Sol mercado's papers in order, i know he played in the Asian games but that is no guarantee, just look what happened to Lassiter in Wuhan, A lot of people have suggested names like Cortez ,Washington,etc, but the reality there is no assurance that any of those fil-foreigners however long they've played in the PBA are even eligible with Hagop's strict implementation of rules
I am getting pissed-off already with questions which keeps on being repeated again. Why can't some people just do some back-reading which we "seniors" were asked to do way back when we were just mere "newbies".
Time and time again same questions regarding same players or same situations keeps on popping-up when said query has been answered many times already and actually had long discussions between so many forumers here.
Ok let me answer this question again, ALL THE FIL-FOREIGNERS (INCLUDING MERCADO) THAT HAD ALREADY SUITED-UP FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS BEFORE THE TIME THE ELIGIBILITY OF LUTZ AND LASSITER WERE QUESTIONED AT THE 2011 WUHAN FIBA-ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP HAVE ALL BEEN CLEARED BECAUSE AMONG THE DOCUMENTS THAT WAS ASKED BY FIBA WORLD TO SUBMIT WERE THE LIST OF LINE-UPS OF ALL THE NATIONAL TEAMS (MENS, WOMENS, U18 BOYS, U18 GIRLS, U16 BOYS AND U16 GIRLS) THAT WE SENT PREVIOUSLY TO THE OLYMPICS, YOUTH OLYMPICS, FIBA-ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS, ASIAN GAMES, SEABA CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN GAMES. FIBA WORLD HAS DECIDED ALL THOSE PLAYERS ELIGIBILITY SHOULD NO LONGER BE QUESTIONED AT PRESENT AND IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE IN THOSE TOURNAMENTS, THEIR STATUS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN SCREENED THOROUGHLY DURING THE RESPECTIVE MANAGERS MEETINGS. DO NOTE IN THOSE LISTS ARE STATED BESIDE THE NAME OF EACH PLAYER IS THEIR RESPECTIVE PHILIPPINE PASSPORT NOS. AND OTHER DETAILS.
THAT IS WHY ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS LIKE ASI TAULAVA WHO WERE LINKED IN THE FIL-SHAM SCANDAL AND WERE ACTUALLY DEPORTED BY THE GOVERNMENT COULD NO LONGER BE QUESTIONED.
WHAT WE GOT WAS REALLY A SWEEPING APPROVAL FROM FIBA WORLD AFTER WE SUBMITTED ALL THE DOCUMENTS THEY WERE ASKING FOR AT THAT TIME.
That is why Hagop was furious, aside from being berated by Baumann on MVP's cellphone, his authority was really stepped-on that time.
Now on Hodge and Ellis, even though they suited-up in the latest 2011 SEA Games, it happened after Wuhan and their papers were not reviewed by officials from neither FIBA-ASIA nor FIBA World but by only officials from the participating teams/countries. There is really no official verdict that Ellis and Hodge are ineligible but the SBP decided to be cautious and not take a risks. Better do it in the correct manner and at the right process. But we are not surrendering our stand that our interpretation of the eligibility rules are correct however we'll reiterate it again on the right time and not push the matter hap-hazzardly. We believe Diplomacy is the right way to do it.
As we usually say it, "hindi pwedeng palagi na lang Pasko" as we do know we stepped on somebody's toes. At least Hagop was candid enough to send a clear message to us which if you say it in Filipino it'll be "Di nyo ako maiisahan ulit" while he still maintains his stand that Overseas-born National Players who are not Naturalized should have chosen to get his Citizenship before the age of 16.
I want to add that aside from Hagop, in the eyes of the other Asian Countries, we did not follow the process and that we were biasedly favored by a Foreign Power (FIBA World run by Europeans) that's outside FIBA-Asia.
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