A teary-eyed and apologetic Don Allado faced media on Thursday, July 5, to take back his allegations that Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games are fixed.
Accoring to reports, he will be meted a one conference ban and a P500,000 fine. The sanctions are final and unappealable.
"If they give me a stiff penalty, I'd have to man up to my mistakes and take the consequences," Allado said today.
Allado was called to a closed-door meeting with PBA commissioner Chito Salud, Barako Bull head coach Junel Baculi, Barako team manager Raffy Casyao and Allado’s father, PBA agent and former cager Caloy Allado earlier this morning.
In what can only be described as a dramatic turnaround from a series of tweets he made earlier, Allado told media that the PBA was the "best league in Asia."
"There is no game fixing in the league--there never was," he said.
"In my 13 years in the PBA, there has never been any instance, any news of game fixing. Never," he again told reporters after the press conference.
On Wednesday, Allado sang a different tune on Twitter. He said, "In my opinion, this league has little credibility left." The tweet was deleted.
The Barako Bull center also denied allegations that he was tweeting under the influence of alcohol.
Alaska center Paolo Bugia replied to one of Allado's tweets: "Stop tweeting. You are either drunk, or drunk. Now go to sleep and regret tom."
He said his frustration and emotions got the best of him. "We did not get into the semifinals, [we] lost out on bonuses. I was frustrated and alone. So many emotions [were] going through my mind--my career, where I'm headed," he said.
While Salud has accepted Allado's apology, he reiterated that the cager would face sanctions. "This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated," he told reporters.
