For the most part, the UAAP has been a progressive league. 

At a time when other local leagues restricted foreign athletes, the UAAP has allowed them to play in various sports and has even allowed its basketball teams to put two foreign student athletes on their rosters next season. The league has also introduced more divisions not just for inclusion, but also so more students from their member schools could play. 

Unlike a certain federation that has revoked credentials, the UAAP has generally had a good relationship with the media (although some might say that’s the bare minimum).

However, it seems they dropped the ball (no pun intended) in handling their officials. 

The issue is not so much the referees themselves (that’s a story for another time) as it is the way they pay for them. Reports regarding the differences in referee pay for the men’s, women’s, and junior high school divisions drew the ire of sports fans, especially when it was revealed that the wages for the women’s and girl’s divisions were lower than in previous seasons. 

Financial considerations are understandable, given the uneasy business climate, but the reduction should be across the board rather than a select group. After all, basketball is still basketball no matter what way you look at it. 

Yes, basketball is a difficult game to officiate at every level. There are referees that can make accurate calls on the spot, but there’s a reason that various leagues all over the world utilize a replay system. And these circumstances are not exclusive to basketball, as other sports rely on both humans and technology to officiate. 

But beyond these considerations, there’s a greater issue at hand. 

The pay disparity is not just a view on the referees but on the divisions themselves. The men’s division is the one that draws the huge crowds, but the quality of basketball in the other divisions, especially in the women’s division is nothing to take lightly. Besides, it’s the UAAP that produces many of the players in the recent iterations of Gilas Pilipinas Women, which has broken through every glass ceiling to rise to the top of FIBA Women’s Asia Championship. 

Is the UAAP a perfect league? Absolutely not. But, it has often been on the right side of history. This time, though, they were veering towards the wrong end of league equality until they read the room. 

To be fair to the UAAP, they responded to the criticism hurled at them and made an initiative to rectify the situation going forward. They will have to navigate through a delicate situation, though, as there are some hurt parties and understandably so. The best solution is for the UAAP to work on uplifting every division and returning to what has been working for them: pushing for reforms that work for all and not just a few.