Much like celebrities, athletes deal with the harsh glare of the public spotlight. They may bask on cheers, but beyond the games, also endure the jeers.
Some were unfounded rumors or just magnified flaws, but some had it coming with their meltdowns, and worse, alleged criminal acts.
Here’s a look into the dramas and controversies of 2024 in Philippine sports.
Perhaps none was more shocking when PBA player John Amores fired a gun at an opponent after a basketball pickup game in Laguna last September, just two years after his infamous on-court punching spree in the NCAA.
Amores figured in a heated exchange in the game, triggering him to later shoot a certain Lee Cacalda.
Fortunately, the victim sustained no injuries, but Amores, along with his brother John Red who was with him then, fled the scene of the crime.
Amores voluntarily surrendered to the police the next day and got detained in Lumban, Laguna, as he was charged with attempted homicide. He was later freed after posting bail.
The notorious hothead, a former JRU Bombers standout who got expelled in the NCAA after punching four St. Benilde players in 2022, got suspended weeks later by the PBA for just one conference.
For many, though, that league penalty was a mere slap on the wrist.
Gymnastics superstar Carlos Yulo should have been on top of the world after making history as the Philippines’ first double Olympic gold medalist. Yet, some still zeroed in on his personal relations.
In a Rappler exclusive, Yulo answered all the issues despite his growing legend in Philippine sports, from parting ways with his longtime Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya, to cutting ties with his management group, to standing by girlfriend Chloe San Jose amid a messy family rift.
So even as the nation celebrated Yulo’s unprecedented Olympic feat — which saw him raking in rewards breaching P100 million — he divided public opinion on his personal life choices.
Controversies came with Carlos Yulo year-round, and even world-class Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena got dragged into one.
Rumors made rounds online of a supposed feud between the country’s two elite athletes, so much so that Obiena felt the need to issue a statement, saying all stories on his rift with Yulo are “fabricated,” “misleading,” and all “false drama.”
“I am friends with Caloy and have been for many years. And for decades to come,” said Obiena in a lengthy social media post.
Still, it didn’t stop some to keep pitting the two current faces of Philippine sports against each other, whether it’s their sporting careers, brand endorsements, or private lives.
Philippine golfers Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan couldn’t feel more embarrassed when they ended up wearing makeshift uniforms — store-bought shirts with taped patches of the Philippine flag — in no less than the Paris Olympics.
Ardina had to let it all out in a video that made the rounds on social media, even showing the process of sticking a flag patch with a double-sided tape, which she said eventually ends up falling off.
Both the Philippine Olympic Committee and the National Golf Association of the Philippines pointed to logistical problems, saying their uniforms got held up at French customs.
Still, many wondered why the Olympian golfers were left to fend for themselves.
Weightlifter Vanessa Sarno, touted as the heir to Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz, surprisingly bowed out early in the Paris Games.
An Asian champion and Southeast Asian Games record holder, Sarno failed to lift the weight she normally clears.
Post-match, an emotional Sarno said she wasn’t pressured at all in her debut on the world’s biggest sporting stage. Instead, it’s the “toxic environment” stemming from a coaching issue that got her.
A disappointed Levi Jung-Ruivivar posted on social media that she, along with fellow Filipino-American Olympic gymnasts Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo, did not get invited to join the heroes’ parade of Team Philippines in Manila, or even the courtesy call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.
Jung-Ruivivar lamented on missing out on a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” saying she was “really hurt” as they were “never informed” or “presented with the opportunity to go.”
Sports and government officials eventually rectified the lapse by arranging a special reception for the gymnasts at Malacañang Palace.
In another case of oversight, a newly renovated track oval in Cebu, the host of the 2024 Palarong Pambansa, turned out to be short of the 400-meter World Athletics standard distance.
This resulted in the nullification of several records set in the track events of the country’s biggest grassroots games.
City officials called out the contractor, saying it will not be paid in full until all track oval issues are resolved.
The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) had a controversial on-court drama, when the stakes were high at that.
PLDT absorbed a contentious five-set semifinal loss to Akari, where the High Speed Hitters — just a point away from a securing a title spot, 14-13 — claimed that Chargers middle blocker Ezra Madrigal committed a net violation.
After a long delay, the league called it an unsuccessful challenge, awarded Akari the crucial point, but did not show a video replay like it typically does.
The incident caused an uproar on-court and online as a shell-shocked PLDT succumbed in the endgame and Akari claimed a breakthrough finals spot.
Amid a backlash from volleyball fans, the PVL wound up posting on its social media account hours after the match a text explanation and video summarizing the controversial call.
PLDT still filed a protest, which the league later junked.
With hopes of making the game more exciting, the PBA added its own basketball rule and introduced the four-point line.
But the innovation drew mixed reactions even as the pro league believed that the four-point arc at 27 feet will prompt players to extend their shooting range.
Coaches said they were not even consulted, with Ginebra tactician Tim Cone noting that the novel rule could make the league look either as “innovators or idiots.”
The growing hostility between the La Salle Green Archers and the UP Fighting Maroons got fueled further after a bench-clearing commotion right on their first UAAP showdown in 2024.
UP guard Reyland Torres alleged that La Salle coach Topex Robinson spat on him. The champion mentor denied the claim but admitted to saying profane words.
The UAAP investigated the incident as the drama boiled over online, with UP stalwart Francis Lopez even saying that the Archers “made it personal.”
Robinson, strongly backed by his players, also fired at his detractors after the league cleared him of wrongdoing as the UAAP just issued “stern warnings,” citing only “unsportsmanlike conduct” from both sides.
But there’s still no dousing their heated encounters as the two top contenders wound up fighting for the UAAP men’s basketball crown for the second straight season.
– Rappler.com
