SEAG Fil-fors told: No free side-trips

There will be no free ride for Fil-foreign athletes seeing action in the 28th SEA Games in Singapore if they eventually would like to travel to the Philippines for a quick visit.

Filipino chef-de-mission Julian Camacho yesterday said the Philippine Sports Commission, which will fund the campaign, can and will only provide for one roundtrip ticket per athlete.

The same goes for any official that will accompany any athlete to Singapore.

“The PSC can only provide the Fil-foreign athletes or their coaches a ticket to Singapore from their point of origin and back,” Camacho said.

“So, if they want to visit the Philippines after the competition is over, they have to buy their own tickets from Singapore,” added the Pinoy chef-de-mission.

He said it will cost a lot if the athletes would later on decide to drop by the Philippines for a quick visit and book their return tickets from Manila.

“They can plan ahead and work on their schedule,” said Camacho.

More than 20 Fil-foreign athletes made it to the delegation that will see action in the SEA Games from June 5 to 16.

The Fil-foreign athletes and perhaps a handful coaches will be traveling to Singapore from the United States, Australia, Japan and even Europe.

In swimming, there are a handful athletes that are flying in from the US as well as in athletics. In judo, three athletes are flying in from Japan where they are based.

Gymnast Ava Lorein Verdeflor, who saw action in last year’s Youth Olympic Games, is also based in the US like tennis players Treat Huey, Ruben Gonzales and Katharina Lehnert, who’s coming from Germany.

“That’s the deal. If they want to make a side-trip to Manila from Singapore, they need to pay for their own tickets and then make sure they catch their return flight from Singapore to their final destination,” said Camacho.