Raya Sports issues statement on pool players’ boycott
- Pool, Raya Sports, Sport -
Editor’s note: The following is a statement issued by JP Fenix, managing director of Raya Sports. It is reprinted here in full.
WE note with regret the announcement that some players will boycott the pool events that Raya Sports is organizing this year and will continue to organize in keeping with its mission for the advancement of Filipino pool. This development will hamper in no way our plans for the year and beyond.
1. Whenever Raya organizes a tournament, we announce who are the players eligible and can apply for entry. We do not issue invitations. We do not force anyone to join. But our experience is that our tournaments — the national championships and the world pool championships — have usually overflowed with participants. If there are some players who don’t want to join these events, that will therefore be their loss, not ours.
The tactic of boycotting events to enforce a demand is a familiar one of Mr. Aristeo Puyat, so we are not surprised. He employed it against the BSCP in many campaigns at the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games over the last 20 years, without much success. He is trying to use it now against Raya Sports, with the collusion of a couple of other managers. Obviously, he is envious of our success in staging major international events, whereas his tournaments, like the Negros Open immediately after the 2007 WPC, have been small, poorly organized and criticized by foreign players.
