PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco has written to the Laos Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Somswat Lengswat, appealing for the inclusion of basketball in the December SEA Games hosted by Laos.

POC spokesman Joey Romasanta said that the Laotian deputy prime minister had coursed a communication through the Philippine Embassy in Laos, which was forwarded to the Department of Foreign Affairs, informing the country that basketball was out of the forthcoming games. But the letter was not sent to the POC.

POC special representative Go Teng Kok, who was in Laos, was surprised to learn when he arrived in Vientiane that there would be no basketball and that the Philippines had been informed about the decision.

?Basketball was not yet okay, despite the fact that 11 competing nations voted to include the sport,? said Go, who returned over the weekend from Laos.

He said that he was handicapped by the fact that he was not given the full authority to act or negotiate by the national sports association for basketball?the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Go said there was no way the Laotians will allow the basketball competition to be staged in Manila, which has been the expressed desire of SBP officials in the face of the lack of facilities in Laos. Thailand had also reportedly offered to help but that, too, was turned down.

The SEA Games has been trimmed down to 25 sports from the 43 disciplines in the last meet in Thailand.

The Laotians originally indicated they didn?t have the facilities, but when SEA Games officials from the different countries visited Laos, they discovered a multi-purpose gym, which could serve the purpose.

The host country then said they didn?t have the technical expertise and the funds to pay for the expenses, but Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines all volunteered to take care of the operations and the necessary expenses.

In a latest development, Go said the hosts pointed out that they had no scoreboard, which seemed to indicate they didn?t want basketball included.

?It?s not so much that they don?t want basketball, but were concerned over meeting the logistical requirements [for the men?s and women?s teams],? said Romasanta, who added that with the demand for accommodation for teams, coaching staffs, officials and technical personnel, the host country would be hard-pressed to meet the requirements and this was probably the main reason for not wanting basketball included. Ronnie Nathanielsz