MAKATWIRAN na aksyunan ng Games and Amusement Board (GAB) at mapatawan ng kaparusahan ang mga sangkot na players at opisyal sa kabalbalan at kawalan ng ‘professionalism’ sa naganap sa laro ng Siquijor Mystics at ARQ Lapu-Lapu City Heroes sa Visayas leg ng Chooks-to-Go VisMin Pilipinas Super Cup nitong Abril 14.

Ngunit, para kay Ronald Mascarinas, Pangulo at General Manager ng Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI) na namamahala sa Chooks-to-Go, ang naging desisyon na suspindihin ang Mindanao leg ng liga ay hindi sagot para maitama ang pagkakamali ng ilang players sa Visayas leg.

Bunsod nito, umaasa si Mascarinas na irerekonsidera ng GAB ang naturang desisyon, higit at walang kinalaman ang mga players, officials at team owners ng Mindanao sa kaganapan sa Visayas leg at nakataya ang kabuhayan ng maraming indibidwal na umaasa sa liga sa gitna ng pandemic.

“The Mindanao leg, composed of different sets of management teams and players, and different sets of games, has not even started yet. The only way to justify such better-safe-than-sorry preemptive action is to suspect the entire Mindanao leg of serious copycat tendencies, or worst, possible agreement to commit the same April 14 infamy,” pahayag ni Mascarinas sa opisyal na media statement.

“It beggars belief that GAB could be acting, in this case, out of an abundance of caution, because the Visayas leg, where the shocking parody of professionalism in basketball was played, was not even suspended at all. It was allowed to go on, ostensibly, under “further observation.”

“Justice is not justice if it punishes the innocent with the guilty, however temporarily. Players are being deprived of livelihoods and fans of a boost to morale. In these difficult times, these may never be fully recovered, if at all.

“Worst, and even more profound, by suspending the Mindanao leg wholely, it allows the right to be held hostage by wrong, the many who are innocent, to be hijacked by the few.

“The enduring appeal of sports is in its purity – that everyone is expected to give their best, in every game. The history of sports, like the story of justice, is fraught with human frailty, and that is exactly why it inspires the human spirit to struggle to be better. However imperfect, we cannot selectively strive for purity in one without peril to the other, or both.

“This is why severe sanctions, such as suspensions, fines, lifetime bans, and even imprisonment, are imposed on those guilty of sports shenanigans, like game-fixing and the many forms of unprofessional conduct, by sports bodies and governments all over the world.

"The purpose of justice in sports is to protect the love of the game, our players, our fans, and our patrons. Ultimately, because of its powerful impact, for good or ill, on the moral fiber of society, it is to protect ourselves.

"This cannot be served by curing a wrong with another wrong, especially when it is a bigger wrong,” ayon kay Mascarinas.