The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) was told to have contingency plans following the viral golf uniforms snafu bared by golfer Dottie Ardina at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday.
In a video, Dottie aired her frustration over her and golfer Bianca Pagdanganan‘s lack of uniforms during the prestigious Games where both represented the Philippines in the club-and-ball sport.
“What kind of Olympics is this?” she quipped in Filipino, half-joking as she painstakingly attached a patch of the Philippine flag to her shirt using double-sided tape.
“My God, a shoutout to those who didn’t bother to provide us with uniforms. Where are they? Where did they go? There are only two of us here, and even then, we’re incomplete!” Dottie exclaimed.
“Let’s stick this on with double-sided tape… what fun,” she said sarcastically as she demonstrated the process.
“Every day is another day. Let’s double the tape, just in case… We can’t risk it, can we? I wish everyone had uniforms — except us,” Dottie added.
“We even had to buy adhesive. My God. Isn’t it embarrassing? With so many people around, we’re the only ones without uniforms,” she lamented.
RELATED: Filipina golfers left in the shadows at Paris Olympics
Dottie finished at the 13th spot, a significant rise from her 40th-place ranking during the opening round.
Bianca, meanwhile, narrowly missed a podium finish after she ended her Paris 2024 campaign at fourth place, tying with Australia’s Hannah Green, South Korea’s Amy Yang and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita.
It was also a major improvement from her 13th-place ranking at the tournament’s opener.
Reports said the Philippines was one of the only two countries to have two players make the top 15 out of the 25 nations with multiple entries. The other was China.
Meanwhile, the POC addressed the issue concerning the golfers’ uniforms and said that it was an “isolated case.”
The committee said that prior to the start of the competition, Adidas, Team Philippines’ official apparel sponsor, sent an initial set of golf team apparel for approval by the International Olympic Committee. This was disapproved.
“Several boxes of apparel containing competition gear were sent through courier directly to Paris. However, the French customs held the package carrying the competition gear and despite the best efforts made by the officials, the gear was not released in time,” it said in a statement.
The POC said that competition gear was arranged to be produced locally in Paris, and that during the practice rounds, Bianca was able to wear Adidas apparel, while Dottie suited up in the competition uniform during the first round.
“However, during the succeeding rounds, the athletes opted to wear their personal attire with the positive impression of sporting the Philippine flag, which our Pinay athletes managed to improvise,” it added.
The POC also denied corruption speculations, saying that the shirts are free from Adidas.
“We are all saddened with the issue about the attire but we have supported our athletes unequivocally,” the committee said.
“We have done our very best to give all our athletes everything they need to be at their best for the Olympics but there are certain things that are beyond our control,” it added.
“The campaign of the Philippines has been a resounding success for Paris 2024, which only shows the hard work that the entire delegation put in. The situation that our golfers are in, although regrettable, is also an isolated case,” the POC said.
RELATED: ‘Isolated case’: Olympic body addresses Filipina golfers’ apparel woes
Sponsorship displays are prohibited in the Olympics.
The POC’s statement did not appease some Filipinos who told the committee to have a “contingency” plan in case things do not work out as planned.
“Lack of planning, anticipation and foresight. Shame on you!” a Pinoy user wrote in the comments.
“I guess your best was not good enough kaya may fall back na excuses why it didn’t make it during the event… kahit ano pa sabihin [niyo], the result is, wala sila uniform during their event… no excuse can justify that,” another user said.
“Dapat [may] contingency plan and not to rely mainly on the original plan,” wrote another Pinoy.
“Damit na lang, nagiging problema pa. Sa dami ng gumagawa ng mga uniforms sa Pinas, impossibleng ‘di kayo makaabot kung nasa oras ‘yung pag-asikaso [niyo]. Sayang binabayad sa inyo. Ika nga nila, you only have one job which is mag-asikaso ng mga delegates natin sa Olympics, palpak pa,” another online user said.
Reports said a similar incident happened with Philippine golfers Juvic Pagunsan and Yuka Saso at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 when they played without uniforms. Yuka already represents Japan since 2023.
Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla, who also served as the Chef de Mission of Team Philippines for the Paris 2024, admitted that the latest uniform snafu involving their golfers was “an honest mistake.”
“May sponsorship kasi sila e. Pinadala naman ng sponsors, na-hold up lang sa customs at ‘di nakalabas sa customs [ang] uniform nila. We were hoping na last minute, mailalabas. Hindi na talaga umaabot,” he was quoted as saying.
“It’s our mistake, we should have prepared for it earlier. We should have contingencies in place. We’re really very, very sorry about that. We’ll try to do better next time,” Remulla vowed.
Golf was among the final events for the Philippines in the prestigious Olympics.
