Gymnastics and weightlifting chiefs: Coaches' payments not coursed through our athletes

A pair of national sports association (NSA) chiefs shared that it is not standard practice within their own federations to get athletes involved in the financial side of their operations.

Cynthia Carrion of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) and Monico Puentevella of the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) both said their associations are the ones processing everything to do with money and that payments to foreign coaches are not coursed through their athletes.

This is amid the issue surrounding pole vault ace EJ Obiena and the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) where the athletics body accused the Olympian of falsified liquidation and failure of payment to Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.

Similar to PATAFA, both the GAP and SWP have their share of dealings with foreign coaches. Gymnastics wunderkind Carlos Yulo is currently under the tutelage of Japanese mentor Munehiro Kugimiya while 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and weightlifting champion Hidilyn Diaz was trained by Chinese mentor Gao Kaiwen until he returned to his homeland recently.

Unlike Obiena's case, however, where the payment for his coach was coursed through him, their athletes aren't involved in the process.

"Of course not, we give it directly to Coach Mune," Carrion told GMA News Online when asked whether payments for Kugimiya go through Yulo.

Carrion even disclosed that Kugimiya did not receive his full eight-month salary this year as they had trouble with completing his correct contract paperwork.

Kugimiya's contract, according to Carrion, is renewed every year but due to the pandemic, they had a hard time completing the required documents. He only received his full salary in September of 2021.

"He did not get his salary for eight months because the contract was not done so we had to go back and forth until the contract was correct. Then he got the whole salary for eight months. Coach Mune didn't complain because he knows he's going to get paid by PSC (Philippine Sports Commission)," Carrion added.

She believes PATAFA and their chief, Philip Juico, encountered a similar problem, but may have handled it differently.

"Popoy Juico said it (the funding issue) also happened because of the contract, they didn't have the contract because of the pandemic. So the coach was in a hurry to be paid so they just gave it to Obiena [but] they shouldn't have."

"Me, I said no. Until Coach Mune's contract is ready, we will not touch the money."

Carrion also shared that GAP has its own accountant to make sure everything is in place.

"Yes, we are paying our own accountant. We have a secretary, we have everything. We need to," she shared.

"I make sure that I don't liquidate those things. Athletes should not do any liquidation. All the liquidation should be coming from the NSAs. We are the one doing the liquidation and we do the liquidation beautifully [and] clearly."

The same goes with the weightlifting federation.

Puentevella said payments for Gao were made directly to the coach.

"We deal directly with the coaches and Hidilyn. And all of them go through me for recommendations for PSC and PSC gives the salary directly, not like what happened with EJ," said Puentevella.

He added, though, that the logistics of Obiena's situation could have made this more difficult for the parties.

"The problem is EJ is in Europe and he's training there, there are banking difficulties sometimes because I understand they are being paid in peso."

Obiena, in an earlier statement, said that he had asked PATAFA to pay his coach and team directly but the request was refused.

"I am a pole vaulter and not a corporate accountant. I am alone and trying to handle this in a foreign country. I have requested many times for my coaches and team to be paid directly - I have no desire to play middleman - but this has been refused, somehow."

He admitted that some of his paperwork was "sloppy" and submitted late, but denied allegations of wrongdoing or that he did not pay his coach.

The PSC has called for a dialogue between Obiena and PATAFA and has offered to mediate between the two sides. Both the PATAFA and the Philippine Olympic Committee have ordered investigations into the matter as well.

—JMB, GMA News