PBA board disallows Kiefer Ravena’s Japan B. League stint

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Kiefer Ravena isn’t flying to Japan.

After a special meeting was conducted to tackle Ravena’s Japan B. League case, the PBA board came up with a collective decision of disallowing him to fly and must go by the rules of the Uniform Players Contract (UPC).

PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas said that if they allow Ravena, the formality of the contract will already be invalid.

“The philosophy is basically the sanctity of the contract. Breaking a contract is going to be difficult for us to manage moving forward,” said Vargas.

B. League team Shiga Lakestars recently confirmed that Ravena will be backing them up in the upcoming season and will also be under the Asian Player Quota rule just like his brother Thirdy.

However, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial was the first to break his silence and explained that Ravena must honor his contract that is about to expire next year.

“That was the primary reason for the decision of the board. It’s really that the contract is a legal document that should not be broken. We don’t like the consequences if a contract is broken. We just hope that the party concerned will realize the sanctity of a contract,” PBA vice-chairman Bobby Rosales said.

Marcial said that they will discuss things with Ravena and will create a communication line with the B. League to avoid confusion.