POLITICS IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE IN SPORTS. Sports officials themselves are the first to say that politics and sports do not mix. They say factionalism deals a serious blow to athletes? morale and disgusting exchanges aired in the media by quarreling officials affect the performance of athletes. But in a field that is obsessed with measurements?time, length, height, scores?how does one define morale?

The evil of politics in Philippine sports now has a human face?a tear-streaked one, in fact. The ill effects of political intramurals in sports can now be measured: one gold medal and P300,000 cash, at the very least. These were what Maritess Bitbit, the regional queen of road racing, lost when she was told to withdraw from the cycling competitions in the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos, earlier this month.

Sports official resting in their cushy air-conditioned offices or plush homes may find it difficult to comprehend the pain in Bitbit?s voice when she told a television reporter in Filipino: ?This was for my family. This was for my country.? It may be difficult for them to relate to her anguish when she protested, ?I am not selfish!?

What?s P300, 000 to them after all? Or one gold medal? We couldn?t have improved on our fifth-place finish in the SEA Games with one more gold. But to an athlete who has trained hard and given the sport her all, that is everything.

As Bitbit told it, she tried her best to tell the Philippine Olympic Committee what competing meant to her. She reminded them of the many hours she had spent training for the Games, the sacrifices she had made, and her very good chances of winning the gold medal for the country. All to no avail. Instead she was told that if she were to compete, it would mean she was being selfish and she would be doing a Judas.

Bitbit was asked by the POC to withdraw from the cycling competitions (where she could have participated?and perhaps won medals?in three events) after the International Cycling Federation (known by its French acronym UCI) refused to give 12 other Filipino riders their licenses to compete in the Games. These riders belong to a cycling faction recognized by the POC. Bitbit, who belongs to the national federation recognized by the UCI, got her license, making her eligible to compete in the SEA Games. But because of the squabble between competing local cycling organizations she lost her chance to bring glory to her country and bring home a tidy sum to her family during the holidays, too.

Politics did not stop there. Immediately after his team halved its gold-medal harvest from eight in Thailand in 2007 to only four in Laos, the country?s aquatics chief, Mark Joseph, sent out text messages blasting alleged biased judging in the Games as well as the lack of support from the Philippine Sports Commission, the government agency that helps fund the training of athletes. Athletics, which surpassed an earlier target but fell short of its adjusted goal, also decried the lack of government support.

Of course, Joseph and Go Teng Kok, the athletics president, are aligned with the POC which has engaged the PSC in a seemingly endless war. The political mud-slinging between the two sports groups has been getting dirtier and dirtier over the years. And it is going to turn even worse after the less than spectacular performance of our athletes in the latest edition of the SEA Games.

Politics is eating up the core of our country?s sports program. And while our sports officials keep fighting over turf and other things, many of our athletes, like Bitbit, will continue to see their efforts go to waste and their dreams of sports glory being shattered.