MANILA, Philippines -- The NCAA will not award a general championship for Season 95, after several events were left unfinished due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Peter Cayco of Season 95 host Arellano University confirmed the development during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.
The NCAA Policy Board had terminated the league's 95th season back in March. The league was unable to complete its indoor volleyball and lawn tennis tournaments, while beach volleyball, track and field, and cheerleading were not held.
"We're not able to award a general champion, simply because with those three events that were scheduled to be played and the two that were not completed, the one, two, and three spots were up for grabs," Cayco explained.
"Kaya pa i-overcome ng second and third place 'yung current first place," he added. "So we decided not to award the general championship."
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At the time of the league's cancellation, San Beda University had six titles (men's and women's table tennis, women's lawn tennis, men's and women's swimming, and men's badminton). De La Salle-College of St. Benilde had two titles courtesy of men's and women's taekwondo, while Colegio de San Juan de Letran (men's basketball), University of Perpetual Help (men's chess) and Arellano (3x3 basketball) each had one championship.
San Beda won the last four NCAA general championships in the seniors division.
The league has yet to decide if it will award a general championship for its 96th season, which is tentatively set to start in early 2021. Letran will host Season 96.
Only the four mandatory sports -- basketball, volleyball, swimming, and track and field -- are guaranteed to be held next year, although the league has plans of holding an esports and online chess competitions.
"We'll cross the bridge when we get there," said Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, of Letran regarding the Season 96 general championship. "Premature pa as of now."
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website).
The NCAA will not award a general championship for Season 95, after several events were left unfinished due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.