PBA upgrades Pingris flagrant to penalty two; ‘Sakuragi’ fined, but not suspended

AKTV/Paolo Papa

The PBA has upgraded Marc Pingris’ flagrant foul in Game Four of the Governors’ Cup finals from penalty one to penalty two after a review on Tuesday.

Pingris was slapped a fine of P20,000 by the PBA, but escaped suspension.

The B-MEG forward was called for the foul for head-butting Rain or Shine swingman Ryan Arana after a hard foul in the fourth quarter of the game.

Pingris earlier told InterAKTV he had no regrets about his actions. “Hindi ko pinagsisihan yung ginawa ko sa kanya. Barumbado kasi siya dumepensa,” he said.

“Nagdilim na kasi paningin ko. Masakit yung batok ko dahil sa ginawa ni Arana. Gumanti ako kasi hindi naman pwedeng tatangap na lang kami ng tatanggap. Yung foul kasi na binibigay nila sa amin, may kasamang pananakit.”

After the game, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao called for a stiffer penalty on Pingris.

“I’m very surprised he was not given an F2. You don’t thrust your head on somebody. Bakit mo ipapasok yung ulo mo sa ulo ng iba? Sabi ng referee tumama muna sa dibdib yung ulo kaya hindi tinawagan ng F2. But head butting in basketball? The rules should be applied.”

A flagrant foul penalty two would have meant an automatic ejection for Pingris. The flagrant foul penalty one meant he had to sit on the bench for three minutes, although after heading out of the game, Pingris was not sent back in by B-MEG coach Tim Cone.

Arana was also fined P1,000 for a technical foul for second motion.

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