MANILA — PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and some members of the league's Board of Governors were not fans of Strong Group Athletics-Philippines' decision to withdraw from the bronze medal game of the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship.

SGA-Philippines opted not to play in the contest due to "officiating inconsistencies."

This came after their semifinals loss against Tunisia, wherein SGA expressed its grievances towards the officiating which they thought were against them throughout the match.

READ: SGA withdraws from Dubai battle-for-3rd after ‘officiating inconsistencies’ in semis loss to Tunisia

The Charles Tiu-mentored squad pushed through with their plans to boycott the Battle for Third Place match which resulted in them completely missing the podium just a year after their second-place finish in 2024.

“Sa akin, opinion ko lang, sana nilaro natin yung battle for third kasi ni-represent nila yung bansa, sabi nila,” said Marcial during the PBA’s press conference for its 50th-anniversary logo unveiling on Monday in Mandaluyong.

“Kahit ‘di bansa natin, kahit ligang barangay, sana naglaro. Pero yun po ay sa akin lang,” he continued.

Also mirroring Marcial were Barangay Ginebra and TNT Tropang GIGA team governors Alfrancis Chua and Ricky Vargas, with the rival executives pointing out how their decision was a reflection of the whole nation.

“Sa akin lang, kung makikita mo bago sila umalis, they said that they were representing the Philippines,” Chua said. “Yun lang ang akin, nire-represent mo, may bandera ka dito, ‘wag tayong umayaw. Nasaktan tayo, natalo, pero wag natin ipakita yun. Tayong mga Pilipino, tatapusin natin yung liga kasi magre-reflect eh. Yun lang samin.”

“One lesson that we have to learn from this is we should really be selfish in naming our teams ‘Philippines,’ or allowing them to use our flags and say that they are representing the Philippines,” Vargas added. “We should be very selfish. In other countries, they are so strict about that, so this is a learning from this experience.”

Even Converge FiberXers governor Archen Cayabyab himself, the PBA squad where SGA’s Tiu is serving as an assistant, was not really a fan of how things went through in Dubai.

“Yung Converge kasi at SGA hiwalay,” said Cayabyab. “The owner of Converge is Mr. Dennis Uy, the owner of SGA is Mr. Frank Lao, and magkaibigan naman yan.”

“Pero yung nangyari sa Dubai, sabi nila na-associate yung Converge kasi nga assistant namin si Charles and team manager si Jacob Lao, pero labas yung Converge.”

“Kung ano yung naging desisyon nila, it was their decision, pero sa Converge kasi, ‘di namin tino-tolerate yung ganung acts. Sa PBA kasi, alam naman natin dito na this is a gentleman’s league so kailangan natin igalang, importante pa rin yung sportsmanship,” he added.