PBA slaps P500K fine, one-conference ban on Allado

The Philippine Basketball Association came down hard on erring Barako Bull forward Don Allado, slapping a whopping P500,000 fine and a one-conference ban from all PBA-related activities.

The sanctions were announced by the Commissioner’s Office shortly after Commissioner Chito Salud met with Allado, who stirred controversy the other night with a series of tweets accusing the league of game-fixing. Allado unleashed his tirade in the wake of the Energy’s 95-99 loss to the Powerade Tigers in a knockout game.

"It was a tough call, but necessary. The penalty was imposed with utmost judiciousness and compassion," Salud said in a statement.

The P500,000 fine will be divided as follows: P300,000 to the players educational trust fund and P200,000 to a charitable institution of his choice. The penalty is final and unappealable.

Allado had taken to Twitter after Powerade’s win, which ended Barako Bull’s season. Among the tweets he posted, which he has since deleted, included:

“I'm the guy that says what others can't. #PBA games are fixed. They control who is in & who is out. It's a disgrace to be in this league."

“I am bitter about losing. Not to Powerade, but to #PBA . In my opinion, this league has little credibility left.”

“I feel for #BarakoRepubliq management. They put in time, effort & resources to form a competitive team like this only to be wasted by #PBA.”

Salud angrily replied yesterday, saying Allado was “out of line” and calling his tweets  "irresponsible, baseless, and an affront not only on the present players, owners, and officials of the league, but to all past players, owners and officials."

The veteran forward backtracked last night, and apologized for his comments. He said:

“I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to Comm Salud and entire PBA for (Tuesday) night’s tweets that’s now a subject of controversy.

“It was an error in judgement on my part to let my passion for this game get the best of me. As a professional I should’ve known better. I understand my statement may be construed by many as discrediting the PBA. Let it be known, however, that such is not my intention. Again, my sincerest apologies to the Comm Salud, Board of Governors and entire PBA.”

Apparently, the apology was not enough to spare him from the harsh penalty, one of the stiffest imposed on a player in recent years.