Cesafi deputy commissioner Boyet Velez speaks to the audience during the Cesafi basketball game on October 17, 2023. | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Lawyer Boyet Velez, Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) deputy commissioner, has given a stern warning to the players and fans that they will impose sanctions and even ban those who have harmful intentions in actions or words during the games.
Velez told CDN Digital that their technical committee has been stringent in reviewing the Cesafi basketball games to see if there are any other players who intentionally caused physical harm on-court.
READ: Keaton Taburnal of CRMC Mustangs suspended for two games by Cesafi
Taburnal suspension
It was in light of the two-game suspension of Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges (CRMC) Mustangs’ Keaton Clyde Taburnal, who was caught on tape hitting University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters’ John Herben Linares in the abdomen during their October 14 game at the Cebu Coliseum — a game which was won by UC, 84-68.
Aside from the two-game suspension, Taburnal had to pay a fine of P10,000, and do four hours of community service.
Although Taburnal already publicly apologized from the incident, Velez wants to remain vigilant because this kind of acts can tarnish Cesafi’s reputation.
READ: CRMC Mustangs coach on Taburnal’s suspension: This will be a learning experience
Serious business
“In Cesafi, we mean serious business, we instill discipline to our players, we impose the rules and regulations of Cesafi. So, to the fans and to the players, especially to the players, this is a good example of what we did,” said Velez.
“Even if you’re not caught during the game, but we have the technical committee to do the review, on what transpired during the game. Under our rules, if you inflict bodily harm, we can impose sanction to the player, similar to what happened to Taburnal, even though he wasn’t caught and there was no whistle during the game, however, right after the incident, we reviewed the video, we found out he intentionally harmed Linares,” he said.
READ: Gun-shy Patrick Yu pulls trigger late to anchor NU victory over La Salle
Heckling fans
Velez also warned the fans that they would get banned from watching the games at the Cebu Coliseum if they would be caught heckling. He said they would do this after the Cesafi officials received several complaints about the unruly behavior of some fans.
“Before the start of the game, we addressed the fans, asking them to cheer and jeer, but not to heckle below the belt, whatever derogatory terms to the players and officials. We don’t tolerate that in here,” Velez said.
“In fact, we’re investigating who are these people, we will be able to identify them. Maybe, we will impose a sanction, maybe, a ban from watching the games, depending on what we will agree later,” he said.
So, far, Taburnal is the first player this season to face such sanction from the Cesafi officials.