Hiniling ni dating Ateneo athletics director at Sports Vision president Ricky Palou sa mga kritiko ni three-time MVP Alyssa Valdez na respetuhin ang desisyon ng Lady Eagles star sa hindi paglaro sa Philippine Super Liga.
Naging tampulan ng batikos at pangungutya si Valdez sa social media dahil sa desisyon nitong talikuran ang PSL na siyang dahilan upang hindi siya mapabilang sa roster ng koponang sasabak sa Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at sa FIVB Women’s Club Women Championship.
Nilinaw ni Palou, pangulo ng organizer ng Shakey’s V-League, na karapatan ni Valdez na pumili ng kanyang lugar para sa paglalaro ng volleyball.
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“Other people are forcing her to play in the PSL, eh ayaw niya eh. They’re saying pinipigilan ko. Hindi ko pinipigilan si Alyssa maglaro [sa PSL],” sabi ni Palou.“I told Alyssa ‘If you want to play in the PSL, that’s fine with me, hindi sasama loob ko sa’yo, choice mo ‘yan eh. If you think you’ll be better off there, by all means, it’s your decision,”
Kasalukuyang nasa line-up ng Ateneo si Valdez bilang playing coach sa Shakeys Collegiate League.
Ang PSL ay isang commercial league, taliwas sa V-League na nakatuon sa grassroots sports program.
“We’re hoping this thing will stop kasi we should respect the choice of a person. If she prefers to play in the V-League, fine. We don’t say anything about the other league, they do what they want, bahala sila, they have their own tournament, let they run it the way they want, but you don’t [hear] anything coming from us. We’re just here to promote volleyball and make it better so that people will enjoy, ayun lang naman ang gusto naming mangyari dito,” aniya.
“Foton asked Alyssa to play in the Asian Volleyball Women’s Club Championship so they talked to me, I said ‘yeah she can play’ and I told Alyssa, ‘Alyssa if you want to play, you can play,’” ani Palou.
“I was talking to Alvin Lu [Foton manager] that Alyssa is good to play. A few weeks later they come back to me and said hindi pwede, she cannot play because PSL has a rule that says to play in the club championship you have to play in the PSL at least one conference, so hindi na siya pwede. So that’s the reason why she’s not playing in this Asian Women’s Club Championship.” (Marivic Awitan
