Sitting Echo Philippines star roamer Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera out of their crucial M4 opening match against Indonesian team RRQ Hoshi was a "team decision," their coach said, amid allegations hounding the captain.

“'Yung kay Yawi is team decision 'yun," coach Archie "Tictac" Reyes said in a virtual press conference after the landslide win over RRQ on Monday evening.

Yawi drew flak on social media after being involved in an alleged cheating scandal, while in a relationship with National University (NU) libero Jennifer Nierva.

Veteran roamer Jaypee "Jaypee" Dela Cruz filled in for Yawi, and came up big with 14 assists with his Khufra as Echo took down the powerhouse Indonesian squad.

Amid controversies surrounding their captain, however, the team said it will cast the issue aside and focus on the tournament.

"Wala namang problema. ‘Di ba may issue na nangyari? So wala, set aside namin 'yun kasi lahat ng teammates (niya) naka-focus sa M4,” the coach said.

What happened?

On New Year's Day, screenshots of Yawi allegedly cheating on his girlfriend surfaced on social media.

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The screenshots alleged that Yawi, who has been in Jakarta since Christmas Eve, has been making advances towards an Indonesian girl he met on social media and several messaging apps.

After the screenshots blew up, netizens also noticed that both Yawi and Nierva deleted photos of each other on Instagram.

In what seemed to be a comment on the issue, Nierva tweeted on January 2: "let go and let god."