The Hagop Rule - Why It's There

The Philippines has succeeded in recapturing its tournament berth and will proceed to China this August for the 2019 World Cup. This is the second straight time our country will be participating in the tournament, the last one held in Spain where our team placed 21st out of 24 teams.

This early, preparations are underway to ensure a competitive showing. The Samahan Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has made a strong effort to field a competitive team, retaining the services of naturalized player, Andray Blatche, and, now, petitioning the FIBA to permit NBA star Jordan Clarkson to suit up for Gilas. 

The Clarkson situation is peculiar because of the so-called Hagop rule (named after its author, FIBA-Asia Secretary General Hagop Khajirian of Lebanon) that disallows players to suit up for a national team that don't carry passports before they turned 16 years old. This rule effectively disallows players like Clarkson, and legit Fil-Foreigners like Stanley Pringle, Christian Standhardinger, Chris Ross, etc. to play for Gilas as they were only able to secure their Filipino passports beyond the age of 16. This, despite the undeniable fact that they're legitimate Filipinos by blood.

The funny part is that Qatar is the one coming out legitimate with their practice of getting foreigners below 16 years old and giving them passports below that age. Unusual therefore to see caucasians playing for this team, just as what opponents used to criticise us when they see African-American looking players in our lineup. It's a ticklish issue that has both positive and negative outcomes.

The logic behind the Hagop rule was to prevent countries to import players abroad, give them automatic passports and citizenships, with the only motive is to represent their country in the FIBA meets. Qatar is actually the reason why the Hagop rule took effect because they were the primary users of such. A decade ago, it wasn't surprising to see a Qatar lineup made up of 12 players with no Qatari lineage. But they were all legit because they were given passports and nationalities - an easy thing to do when in a monarchy.

On the other hand, the Philippines was perhaps the first country in Asia to utilise this rule to its advantage. They brought in almost a dozen players from the United States and suited up for the national team under Northern Consolidated to play in the 1981 Jones Cup. They were so dominant that even powerhouse teams from other countries in Europe were no match against them. Eventually, the FIBA under Borislav Stankovic, came out with a new rule limiting the number of naturalized players per team to 3 (later brought down to 1). Qatar circumvented that rule by projecting that their imports were natural-born citizens, something difficult to disprove because Qatar is also known for its black heritage. The Philippines cannot claim the same thing because of our Malay features (unless sired by one African American parent to a Filipino mother). 

Hence, the Hagop rule has its own merits - and it wasn't because they were against us. It was because Qatar used that to their advantage by claiming that their imports were naturally-born Qataris. To prevent this from happening, Hagop came out with the new rule regarding the 16-year old minimum requirement to secure passports. That was to assure the FIBA that the players suiting up for one's national team had already stayed with their country when they were still young, and may be considered bonafide citizens of that country. That was why Qatar struggled thereafter, as they were either disqualified or their games forfeited when they still continued parading the same imports.

But it did have an adverse effect on the Philippines. It is not unusual to have several half-Filipinos all around the world as we have one of the most number of workers based overseas and ultimately having children with foreign fathers. And since the dual citizenship law (RA 9225) was only enacted in 2003, there are several people with Filipino heritage who haven't availed of this, and more importantly, didn't get this before they reached the age of 16. We can build an all Fil-Foreigner national team easily but without the required 16-year old rule, we won't benefit from the Hagop rule.

Which is why the SBP is proposing a new rule on this. Given the Qatar case as the reason why the Hagop rule took effect, the SBP is proposing the use of technology through DNA to prove or disprove a person't lineage. It's the most appropriate recourse because it allows other countries to tap their overseas-based talents and still play with legitimate blood. And by doing so, it also takes away Qatar's propensity to import players using their abundant finances and give them passports before they turn 16 years old. But this is a complicated issue that still needs to be threshed out (no matter how simple it may seem) as no other sports association in the world implements this type of rule. 

The FIBA though has relaxed its rules a bit. Remember the clearance to have Greg Slaughter play in the 5th window? Slaughter was given the green light because it was proven that he has been residing in the PHL for several years already and not because he's a legit Filipino with a foreign father. In other words, the FIBA gives premium to residency more than lineage. 

The conondrum is that Jordan Clarkson isn't residing in the PHL so that's an issue. Ditto with Standhardinger who has only resided here since last year. Pringle has been staying in the PHL since 2013 so there is a good chance he may be given the nod. 

With guarded optimism though, I believe the FIBA will eventually allow Clarkson to suit up for Gilas. If not in 2019, it will happen on 2023 when the country hosts the next World Cup along with Japan and Indonesia. The FIBA would need a "face" of the tournament and there's no better person for this than Clarkson representing the host nation.

In the end, while we collectively despise the Hagop rule because it hits hard on us, let us remember that this rule wasn't meant to mitigate our strengths, but to prevent teams like Qatar from using its resources and circumvent the spirit of the rule. But there's always a way of addressing these concerns and the correct way is what the SBP is doing now - doing backchannel talks with the FIBA to seek approval on the Clarkson, Pringle, Standhardinger samples.