January 29, 2009
Mr. Patrick Baumann Secretary General International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Attention: FIBA Asia Executive Committee Members Dear Patrick, After a long personal talk with you, Patrick, on January 19, 2009 at the Park Royal Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I have decided to stop criticizing you openly and just move to a new dimension that I hope will lead to a better understanding of our case against the BAP-SBP leadership. As a gentleman, I am apologizing for the harsh criticisms I have hurled against you and Mr. Bob Elphinston, the FIBA president, and I look forward to having a better working relationship with the FIBA Secretariat, particularly FIBA Asia, where I have been a member since 1996. Furthermore, I am happy to accept your offer, through FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato' Yeoh Choo Hock, to have me reinstated as a member of the FIBA Youth Commission and put me in the good graces of the FIBA family once again. I truly appreciate the big role Dato' Yeoh has played to bring back unity to the FIBA family. Before I came to Kuala Lumpur, I first visited Dr. Carl Menky Ching (FIBA Honorary Life President) in Hong Kong to ask for his advice. We both agreed that whatever decision I would make that day must be done in good faith and for the betterment for the FIBA. I heeded the call of Dato' Yeoh to stop my criticisms against you. Likewise, Carl said he would assist me in resolving the leadership issue in the Philippines' BAP-SBP merger. Carl added that the issue must be resolved on the basis of the Bangkok Agreement that was signed on February 4, 2007. The document, wherein representatives of the FIBA and FIBA Asia were signatories, must be honored and the legitimacy of the results of the June 4, 2008 election must be respected. I take this opportunity to thank Sheikh Talal F.A.J. Al-Sabah, the FIBA Asia 1st Vice President and FIBA Central Board member, for his wonderful speech in support of my initiative to patch things up with you and Mr. Elphinston. I am really proud of you, Sheikh Talal, for your unqualified support through the years. I would like to thank FIBA Asia President Sheikh Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani for his trust and confidence in me. I thank Mr. Hagop Khajirian, the marketing man and FIBA Asia Deputy Secretary General, for his advice and tips to gain our official status in the FIBA. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Borislav Stankovic for coming into the scene and seeing to it that harmony within the FIBA will be preserved and its dignity honored and respected. I am also grateful to FIBA Asia Board members Mr. Yutaka Misutani and FIBA-Asia Associate Secretary General Mr. Takeshi Ishikawa, FIBA Central Board Member Miss Mabel Ching, FIBA-Asia Treasurer Mr. Quek Hiang Chiang, FIBA Asia Legal Counsel lawyer Gayrika Perusinghe and Miss Xu Lan of China Basketball Association. I appreciated their kindness. They welcomed me with open arms despite the adverse publicity I have been getting lately. In closing, I urge that the FIBA, and particularly FIBA Asia, to study carefully the Bangkok Agreement. Only in doing so will our honor and integrity remain intact. Representatives of the FIBA and FIBA Asia were signatories to the Bangkok Agreement. In accordance to that agreement, the merged BAP-SBP organization in the Philippines held a legitimate election on June 4, 2008 and chose officers Congressman Luis R. Villafuerte and Hon. Prospero Pichay as the BAP-SBP Chairman and President, respectively. Do not be taken for a ride by the group of Manuel Pangilinan because of his marketing promulgation, whose supposed election as BAP-SBP president is illegitimate, deceptive and whose stay in power is being perpetuated by the Philippine Olympic Committee without any legal basis which was started in 2005 whereas the FIBA Secretariat should not take part being use as a tool to destroy its own virtue of integrity, particularly to an original FIBA member since 1936, that is the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP). Very sincerely yours, GRAHAM C. LIM Executive Committee Member FIBA Asia Contact Address: Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Unit 214, Cityland Tower 1, Vito Cruz Street, Malate, Manila, Philippines 1006 Tel-Fax # +632-524 2522 Email: baplink@yahoo.com cc. Dr. Carl Menky Ching, FIBA Honorary Life President Dr. Borislav Stankovic, FIBA Secretary General Emeritus Dato' Yeoh Choo Hock, FIBA Asia Secretary General Mr. Lee Jong-Kul, President, Korea Basketball Association (KBA) International Olympic Committee (IOC) Members United World Chinese Association Chinese Overseas Brotherhood Ltd Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) BAP-SBP /Villafuerte/Pichay/Tan/Abundo/Board Members
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