Rep. Arnel Ty (LPGMA) filed House Resolution 766 to Investigate conflict between two Cycling groups

A lawmaker said the country may again lose in the cycling game during the 2011 South East Asian Games this year if the government will fail to settle the "infighting" between two groups claiming to be the legitimate organization.

Rep. Arnel Ty (Party-list, LPGMA) has filed House Resolution 766 urging the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development to summon the two groups to settle their differences before the House body.

Ty said the conflict between the two organizations of Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (ICFP) has already affected the training of the Filipino cyclists who are expected to join the South East Asian Games this November.

"The conflict between the two organizations may even bring an end to all the achievements of Filipino cyclists, coaches and the generous support coming from Filipino patrons and fans as well as the chance of enabling a Filipino to win a gold medal in the Asian and Olympic games in the future," Ty said.

"The problem confronting the sport in the country will again duplicate the sad experience in the 2009 SEA Games where we lost the chance to bring home a number of gold medals and also dampened the spirits of Filipino cyclists," Ty added. 

Ty said the two organizations of ICFP have both held a national open cycling championship last December 2010 for the purpose of selecting the Philippine cycling delegates to the South East Asian Games.

Ty said the Philippines has already proven that Filipino cyclists are capable of leading and winning medals in the international athletic competitions like the South East Asian Games and Asian Games.

"From 2003 to 2007 the Philippines won eight gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals in the South East Asian Games but none in 2009 and in the Asian Games the country got four bronze medals from 1982-1998," Ty said.

In 2006, Ty said the country's cycling delegates failed to win any medal in the Asian Games but they were able to break all Philippine records during the competitions. 

"However, come 2010 our cycling delegates in the same competition were not only able to win any medal, they also failed to break existing Philippine records," Ty said.

Ty said in 2009 Philippine cycling delegates to the South East Asian Games were not able to participate and compete due to the existence of two organizations within the ICFP. 

"Both are claiming to be the legitimate national sports association that would represent the country in any international athletic competition," Ty said.