POC chief Cojuangco has plan to curb cheating at SEA Games

Having two overall championships would prevent cheating in the Southeast Asian Games, according to a plan revealed on Thursday by Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr., president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). In a statement, Cojuangco said his plan would be to have an overall championship for Olympic and Asian-level events and another for sports indigenous to Southeast Asia. He said this would curb down the alleged tendency of the host country to amass as many gold medals no matter what it takes. As it is, whichever is the host country in the 11-nation regional event would be accused of bending rules or even cheating to get as many of the gold medals, on which the ranking of a participating country rests. The Philippines, which hosted the 23rd SEA Games in 2005, and Thailand, which is hosting the 24th SEA Games this year, are the latest to get such accusations. "We have to accept the fact the host should have at least a good showing in the Games," he said. "But how far do you go? And how much do you sacrifice?" Having two championships will also allow a participating country to focus on a particular set of sports and not worry about the other sports just so it could get more medals. "We can have concentration in training in certain 'elite' sports," Cojuangco said. "Pwedeng gawing mandatory so that we can have better showing in said areas." Cojuangco did not give an exact time table for putting his proposal in place. But he said he would present it to the Southeast ASian Games Federation Council (SEAGFC). "I will sit down with some people, Filipinos first, and then we'd draw up proposals for two overall champions," Cojuangco said. "Once we have it in a more concrete form, then maybe we can present it in the next SEA Games Federation Council meeting." In the meantime, he said: "Dapat we make a deeper study pa and then find a consensus among the POC muna." - GMANews.TV