EJ Obiena to miss World Indoor Championships due to non-endorsement

Filipino Olympian and world no. 5 EJ Obiena said he will be missing the 2022 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia next week because he was not endorsed for the competition.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Obiena said he was the only top-ranked vaulter who will not be joining the competition.

"With my recent results I have qualified for the World Indoor Championships. I am currently ranked 5th and holding the 4th highest jump of the season," he wrote in his post.

"I am in prime physical and mental condition. I am ready to be the first Philippine HOME-GROWN athlete to compete in the Worlds, and I am ready to compete and bring home a medal. Now is my time; NO, now is our time!" he added said. "But sadly, we will never know."

Obiena said the country is paying the price as the "country has not been put first by all."

"If the country was ever put first, I should be headed to Belgrade now. But I am not. I will watch it on TV like millions of others. I will see other nations take the medal that the Philippines should be winning," he lamented.

"I shed a tear now with a heavy heart, but not just for myself. I shed a tear for my country. We had a chance to show the world our greatness. And we lost it."

On March 8, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) excluded Obiena from the roster for the Southeast Asian Games. With the exclusion also comes non-endorsement for the Worlds.

However, the Philippine Olympic Committee slammed PATAFA's decision and on March 11 included Obiena's name on the SEA Games roster.

For this year's indoor season, Obiena copped two gold medals and reset his personal best to 5.91 meters.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/MGP, GMA News