EJ Obiena admitted that the controversy which alleged his apparent non-payment to his legendary coach Vitaly Petrov truly caught him off guard as he's neck-deep in his trainings in Formia, Italy.
Also read: EJ Obiena Is Now World's Fifth Best Pole Vaulter
"I didn't really know anything about it until there was demand. You know, there was this investigative committee and there's this letter coming from my federation directed to me, that I have 14 hours to respond and explain everything. I didn't know none of this," he said on Sunday, November 21.
"Nobody asked me any question, nobody asked for clarity or supporting documentation. They just leveled the charges against me. This runs counter to any principle of justice from what I believe, where in we are innocent until proven guilty. My own federation comes at me with pure aggression, no benefit of any doubt, and with intent to destroy my reputation. If the objective of a sports federation is to destroy and demoralize an athlete, and undermine their performance, I think this is textbook example of how we can actually achieve this."
EJ Obiena controversy
It was a confusing sequence of events for the Olympic pole vaulter who was accused of falsifying documents and failed to pay Petrov his coaching fee worth EUR85,000 (over P4.8 million).
What made it more problematic for Obiena was that there really was no issue with Petrov, one that the Ukranian mentor corroborated.
"I must say I do not understand what the federation is doing and what comes out of this. I have been fully paid by EJ, both directly and indirectly. I have no problem with EJ Obiena," said Petrov.
Obiena, for his part, fulfilled what was asked of him yet until now, has gotten no response aside from the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association stopping his funding as the investigation was still ongoing.
"As soon as I got it, I tried to get information that I can and send it back in response to their request for explanation," he said, speaking in front of the press side-by-side with Petrov himself while also showing the proper payment letter.
"I have sent them replies from all of those letters that were sent to me a few days ago. I haven't really heard any response or any verification of the matter. To be honest, I was shocked that this was somehow leaked in some way. I have really no comment as there's no interactions and exchanges between me and Patafa regarding this. I have only replied to them."
He has since hired the private firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to help him in auditing his payments to Petrov and intends to release it in public.
"I will publish this audit in a public domain for all to see; it will show that every single centavo is accounted, for all was paid by myself. I welcome a bright light shining in this situation, because I have nothing to hide," he said.
Although Obiena admitted that there may have been liquidation reports done in sloppy fashion or submitted late, he insisted that there really was no malice in those as he is, in fact, an athlete by trade.
"I studied electronics engineering. I never studied accounting. I admit some of my liquidation paperwork were probably submitted late or in a sloppy fashion. You know, I'm a pole vaulter, not an accountant, not in any shape or form. [I don't have] a corporate assistant to do all of this. I'm alone in trying to handle all of this in a foreign country," he said.
Obiena also shared that he has talked to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) in the past of directly paying Petrov, saying, "I have requested many times for my coach and my team to be paid directly. I have no desire to play the middle man, but this has been refused somehow."
"I have not always handled the paperwork well, and I'm sorry, very, very sorry for this. But to take this fact and suddenly construe false accusation of theft and embezzlement is beyond honest principle. It's a disgusting abuse of power, and it is in itself a criminal activity called slander and defamation of character," he said.
"I welcome a full and open accounting. I have nothing to hide. I'm an open book."
The 26-year-old University of Santo Tomas product could't help but feel "blindsided" of the situation, noting, "In any investigation, I think you should be asking both sides of the party to clear out everything. The easiest way for it to do is just sit it out together. If the alleged complaint is said to be that I have not fully paid my coach or I have done such, the best thing to do is have a sit down with my coach and me and all the truth will be stated. It's as simple as that, but I have no idea where exactly this came and I really find it overwhelmingly one-sided."
"I think it's unfair, unjust on what's happening. There was no due process. There's no benefit of the doubt given to me. At the end of the day, do I feel like I'm blindsided? I think definitely yes," he said.
For what it's worth, Obiena has already filed defamation cases against the PATAFA to the Philippine Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, and World Athletics and is asking for the federation to clear his name of any wrongdoing.
"I think they have slandered my name. If you Google that, you will see it there. The only resolution to this now is a full and public withdrawal of investigation, and a full public apology from the authorities involved in this," he said.
"I cannot continue to operate under this kind of situation. I am unable to focus and to train properly, with this hanging on my head. As I said, if you want a textbook example of how to destroy an athlete, you're seeing it right here and now."