The University Athletic Association of the Philippines has suspended University of the East head coach Jack Santiago for two games after he instructed his players to 'deliberately harm' University of the Philippines guard Ricci Rivero during their game last Saturday.
After a thorough review of the incident, Commissioner Tonichi Pujante initially recommended to ban Santiago for the rest of the first round of the eliminations but an appeal from the Red Warriors coach prompted the league to downgrade the suspension to just two games.
That means Santiago won't be on the sidelines when the Red Warriors take on the FEU Tamaraws on Tuesday and the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Thursday.
"Violence is never an option," said Pujante in a statement. "Let this serve as a lesson to the entire UAAP community as well."
The Fighting Maroons won the game, 81-66, and extended their win streak to three.
Also to be summoned by the Commissioner's Office on Tuesday is UE guard Harvey Pagsanjan for his unsportsmanlike foul penalty two on UP's Zavier Lucero during the 2:26 mark of the second period.
The league also suspended one of its officials during that game for failing to act on the incident after hearing Santiago's instructions to his players.