Will GAB step in for Global players?

Days after writing about the complaint of Global Cebu players against management--and months after hearing about the case for the first time--it occurred to me that the Games and Amusements Board could help the players.

So I messaged the energetic chairman of GAB Baham Mitra, who has transformed the agency from a sleepy dinosaur to a transparent and modern agency that acts swiftly--and asked him whether professional football is under GAB.

He assured me that all professional sports in the country are under his agency and promised to act swiftly on the complaints of the players should they get in touch with him.

This is a positive development, one that could bring closure to this sad episode in the players’ lives.

I’m still in contact with the players and right now Global Cebu management is negotiating with them for partial payment of their salaries. I sure hope, though, that before the year ends, the players and staff will finally get what is due them.

MOTORCYCLES IN THE CCSC PITCH. Last Sunday, Dec. 23, thousands of motorcycles and their drivers parked on the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) pitch for a thanksgiving mass. We all know the issue on Angkas and habal-habal and how the mayor is fighting to have their livelihood restored legally.

I just hope, too, that after that activity, which pretty much killed the field, the CCSC will also spend for the restoration of the football pitch, which is going to suffer its annual death during the Sinulog celebration.

This year, the CCSC has actually done a nice job of maintaining the field despite it being the most-used facility in the country. Before, it usually turned into a dust bowl with nary a patch of grass but this year, it has been kept green whole year round.

In fact, organizers of tournaments use paint, not the usual limestone, to line the pitches. You can only use paint if there’s grass.

I’ve been told that the guy who keeps the field treats it as his baby and even talks to the grass while he’s watering them. Now that’s one hard-working employee and I hope next year, after the Sinulog, the CCSC or Cebu City Hall will provide him with the necessary funds so he can make the field green again.

It’s just another cycle in the CCSC pitch’s colorful life.