PNVF fines Sta. Lucia after Champions League pullout

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) said it will penalize Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors after pulling out of the 2021 Champions League.

Organized by the PNVF to provide another volleyball tournament for the fans, the Champions League will feature F2 Logistics Cargo Movers, the Perlas Spikers, the Petro Gazz Angels, the Cherry Tiggo Crossovers, the Baguio Highlanders, and the California Precision Sports.

With Sta. Lucia’s decision to back out late in the tournament, the PNVF is only left with six participating teams.

A reported P50,000 fine will also be slapped on the Lady Realtors as they will no longer compete in the tournament scheduled from Nov 20-25 at the Aquamarine Gym in Lipa City, Batangas.

Another issue arose when the PNVF also confirmed that the Lady Realtors weren’t able to pay the US$1,500 International Transfer Certificate (ITC) of import MJ Philips.

Philips, one of the longest-tenured imports playing in the Philippines, offered her services to the Lady Realtors and played for them during the 2021 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference.

In reply to PNVF’s allegations, Sta. Lucia team manager Buddy Encarnado said that the PNVF just informed them regarding Philips’ ITC just last week.

“The first time that they got in touch with me was September 4. I got an email from PNVF inviting us. We never applied, sila yung nangumbida ng teams. Ang problema ang daming sinabi doon pati yung mga cost pero never yung mga requirements. Wala namang sinasabing rules about ITC,” said Encarnado in an interview with Spin.ph