By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Ticket holders who were denied entry to Team Japeth vs. Team Mark exhibition game during the 2024 PBA All-Star Weekend at the University of St. La Salle (USLS) Gym in Bacolod City arrived “very late.”

The Bacolod Yuhum Foundation clarified in a statement obtained by Watchmen Daily Journal that they had announced beforehand their intention to close the gates of the USLS Gym once the exhibition game began.

“The closure of the gates during the PBA All-Star Games at the USLS Coliseum was a joint decision of both the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation and the USLS Coliseum Management as stipulated in our contract,” it said.

“Closure of the gates happened around 6:30 p.m., about the time the official game started,” it added.

“In all our posters and ticket-selling booth, there were reminders issued, among which [stated] that [the gates] will open by 1:00 p.m. and gates will close when the game starts.”

The Bacolod Yuhum Foundation further stated that this reminder had been posted on their social media page since March 17, continuing up to the day before the PBA All-Star Weekend began.

“Which means those who were denied entry came in very late. Both USLS and Bacolod Yuhum can attest, through the CCTV cameras in the coliseum,” the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation said.

“When the decision to close the gates happened, just about when the game started, nobody was outside the gates anymore,” it added, contradicting the various pictures that went viral online.

The Bacolod Yuhum Foundation also denied reports from Bacolod City-based news outlets claiming that the USLS Gym was closed to ticket holders due to full capacity.

“It is also not true that ticket holders were denied entry because the Coliseum was already [at] full capacity because the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation had 500 tickets left that were not disposed of before the game started,” it concluded in the statement.

Bacolodnons were eagerly anticipating the event, as it marked the city’s first time hosting the PBA All-Star Weekend since 2008./ASC, WDJ