Sports patron and athletics coach Jim Lafferty disclosed Friday that more countries have offered Olympian pole vaulter EJ Obiena to don their colors in competitions.
“Long before this happened, there’s already a line of people at his door that is to offer him a passport,” said Lafferty in his interview with Gretchen Ho on One News PH.
“He’s the hottest thing in track and field because he’s gone from No. 30 to 10 and 5 and everyone’s afraid of him.”
Lafferty, who is also Obiena's mentor, recalled a conversation with a Brazilian coach a couple of years back, telling him that Obiena’s going to win gold medals in big competitions.
Obiena lived up to his billing by winning several high-level events in Europe. The 26-year-old has shattered national records multiple times this year and even broke the Asian record with a 5.93-meter performance.
He was the first Filipino to qualify in the Tokyo Olympics and finished 11th in his event.
But chances of Obiena competing for the Philippines appear in peril following the ongoing rift between him and the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa).
Obiena said the allegations against him regarding the coaching payments for his Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov has damaged his reputation and affected his training in Formia, Italy.
Lafferty, who has coached several local athletes that include long jumper Marestella Torres, hopes the issue will be resolved as soon as possible.
“If something doesn’t happen soon, in my opinion, he will not vault again for the Philippines,” he said.
“It’s no secret in today’s world that they are looking at the situation and laughing uncontrollably on how the Philippines is driving away a world-class athlete that they can offer a passport to.”
Patafa has already formed an administrative committee to look into the issue, while the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has also formed an Ethics Committee to deal with the matter.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will also serve as a mediator between two parties once they have resolved the issue privately.