ONE SEASON, one Most Valuable Player (MVP).

That has long been the standard in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). From now on, however, the MVP—usually referring to a singular best player—may have to share the spotlight.

In a turn of events, the historic stipulation no longer applies, as the UAAP recently introduced the Best Foreign Student-Athlete (FSA) award in Season 87. During the Season 87 Volleyball press conference, UAAP Executive Director Atty. Rebo Saguisag announced that FSAs will no longer be eligible to win the MVP award.

Saguisag explained that the Best FSA award will only take effect if an FSA finishes as the leader in statistical points (SPs). In such a case, the highest-ranking local in SPs will receive the MVP title.

“The reason behind this is to ensure that we properly recognize both our local and international student-athletes while maintaining the spirit of the league’s competition,” Saguisag explained.

The discussion on creating a separate award for FSAs started brewing in 2017 after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eyed the change in their awarding process. Conversations continued to develop in the UAAP as FSAs dominated the MVP race; however, the discourse was met with opposition from previous winners, including 2017 Men’s Basketball MVP Ben Mbala, who labeled the idea as unfair.

With the UAAP long priding itself on providing equal opportunities to all student-athletes, the league’s award system remained unchanged until now. The Best FSA award was first enforced in the Season 87 Juniors Basketball tournament, with Collins Akowe becoming the inaugural recipient. The award results, where second-ranked Kiefer Alas emerged as the MVP once again, sparked controversy on the league’s ability to promote fairness.

While acknowledging that the MVP award recognizes both locals and FSAs, critics—including fans, media, and athletes—have questioned the move, arguing that it muddles the concept of merit and what it ultimately means to be an MVP.

The spirit of competition

In principle, the Best FSA award seeks to ensure the recognition of both local and foreign student-athletes while promoting equity and the spirit of competition. Saguisag emphasized this reasoning, stating that the award “will preserve the prestige of the Most Valuable Player award, which will be given to the best local performer.”

At first glance, however, this statement seems inconsistent with the actions being taken, as the existence of another award could instead undermine the spirit of competition and the prestige of the MVP distinction. If one were to put it differently, the award fundamentally diverges from the idea of merit, which puts it into the crossfire of criticism. Still, before doubting the ruling, it is imperative to fully understand the core principle behind it, as seen from the league’s standpoint.

According to an Atenean FSA who wishes to remain anonymous, he believes the league’s primary stakeholders are the local talent themselves. To him, the UAAP’s status as a Filipino league compels them to prioritize giving homegrown talent as much exposure as possible—including the opportunity of winning awards like the MVP.

As such, he believes that foreign athletes are expected to comply with the new rules, considering that the league’s main priority is local development. “I don’t think it’s controversial for me,” he stated. “As long as they also have an award for [foreign] student-athletes—because if there was nothing for us, [now] that would be a big problem.”

From the side of athletes, the FSA said the UAAP serves as a ticket for talents to prosper and draw serious offers beyond the collegiate level. The Blue Eagle also shared that he has personally received offers from foreign agents, which can function as a segue into becoming a professional athlete.

This perspective, along with Saguisag’s, underscores the league’s main goal of promoting athletic talent—with a focus on local athletes. Such emphasis may lead to the overprotection of local athletes, or in this case, changes that put local players on an artificial pedestal. Though well-intentioned, the award has drawn ire and criticism from those who believe its implementation lacks sufficient explanation.

Former UAAP Men’s Basketball MVP and Blue Eagle great Ange Kouame strongly disagrees with the rationale, arguing that local talent can already compete—or outright go head-to-head—with foreign athletes.

Kouame alludes to Kevin Quiambao’s back-to-back MVP campaigns as proof. However, a skeptic might see the former La Salle forward as nothing more than an outlier, especially with the six-year streak of FSAs winning the MVP award before his tenure. Nonetheless, players like Carl Tamayo and JD Cagulangan have proved otherwise, testing the mettle of their international counterparts on the UAAP stage and the Mythical Five standings.

In contrast to the now existing reality, the ruling—given the league’s use of the word equity—seems to operate on the assumption that FSAs will top the SPs rankings. In contrast, as the former MVP pointed out, the league is already displaying parity across the board in terms of talent. As a result, the ruling seems to address no real issue, only complicating the awarding process even further.

Another quandary brought forth by such an award is that it effectively takes the MVP honor out of the hands of the FSAs. While they are compensated with a Best FSA accolade, the title of MVP carries far more weight and prestige in one’s sporting career than the new award set in place. Though others may point to countries like China and Korea as having a similar type of award system, France—for example—has unified its MVP in 2014 after years of previously splitting the foreign and local awards.

It can be argued that the UAAP, being not a professional league, has no reason to adopt such a partition-less structure. Yet, evidence such as Kouame’s popularity among the Loyola Heights faithful proved otherwise. His reception suggests that fan attachment is more closely tied to on-court performance rather than nationality, challenging once again the need to separate awards.

A typical FSA in the UAAP showcases a willingness to be part of the Filipino developmental system by participating in both the local education and sports. In some sense, this aspect is akin to local talents, underscoring that foreign players deserve similar recognition at the collegiate level.

With so much emphasis placed by onlookers and some athletes on having a unified MVP, there must be a reason behind it—one that stresses the importance of truly being the most valuable.

Most Valuable

Restructuring the award system not only impacts the players but also redefines the MVP title. For years, being crowned the “Most Valuable” was a coveted label that signified who the most valuable student-athlete truly was to their team.

Kouame, who won the MVP trophy back in 2021, shared how winning the individual accolade came with honor, validation, and public admiration, which will be stripped away from incoming generations of FSAs. Thus, awarding the MVP to someone other than the statistical leader risks giving the recognition to a player whose performance may be less deserving of the award than the FSA.

The Atenean alumnus believes the rule change only diminishes the value of the MVP award, citing how it decreases the satisfaction of winning for both FSAs and locals. In his opinion, the Best FSA award is not enough of an honor for an athlete’s hard work.

“If you put a player like Mbala and you give him the best FSA [award], at the end of the day, you [already] know he’s going to be the best FSA player. But is he the best of the best? Because people are going to try to title him as the best FSA player without knowing the work that he actually put on to be the best player of the year,” Kouame commented.

The former UAAP MVP also added how gaining recognition is already difficult for FSAs due to the league only allowing one FSA to be part of the Mythical Five team.

In Season 85, Kouame was excluded from the Mythical Five despite being second in overall statistical points. In the same season, Malick Diouf earned the MVP, leaving Kouame without any individual title. Although the ever-humble athlete claimed winning the Season 85 championship was the prized achievement, he admitted being disheartened by failing to receive an accolade he deserved.

On the other hand, a local who is favored as the MVP may face public criticism on whether or not their performance deserves the recognition. Going back to the original definition of the award, Kouame argued that having both a Best FSA and MVP in the same season only creates confusion over who the true “most valuable” player is.

The Ivorian-Filipino citizen also highlighted how former local MVPs Kiefer Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., and Quiambao are all thriving in international competitions because of their experience competing against FSAs.

“If the father thinks protecting his kid from the outside world is going to help his kid, then that’s up to them,” declared Kouame, referring to the UAAP’s justification. Using the analogy, he demonstrated how the league is depriving Filipinos of the satisfaction that comes with outperforming FSAs in the MVP race.

The anonymous athlete from Ateneo echoed a similar sentiment about what it means to win MVP, but offered a different opinion on the new award. While he reveled in the potential of being the best player in the league, he still finds enough motivation and allure in claiming the Best FSA title.

“I’ll still continue to work hard and do my best. Maybe one day after college, I can show my award,” said the FSA.

Despite the contrasting perspectives, the FSAs’ remarks beg the question of which decision promotes parity: awarding Filipinos or recognizing the best-performing student-athlete.

A matter of fairness

The idea of equal treatment for all is a concept reiterated by critics of the Best FSA Award. As Mbala said to Spin.ph, “It doesn’t matter if you’re Filipino or a foreign student-athlete. If you work for the MVP, then you will [get it]. Don’t look for excuses like dividing it into local and foreign. […] That’s not how it was supposed to be.”

Kouame spoke candidly about the possible negative impacts of the ruling. “If you want the league to grow more and reach a lot of people, I think removing the FSAs from the MVP is bad. […] For the next generation, it’s really bad.”

He then explained that rulings like these could drive other FSAs to seek opportunities in other collegiate leagues like those in Taiwan, where the import regulations are more favorable. Given FSAs’ ability to bring essential diversity and add competitive edge to a league, such developments could create unnecessary divides, undermining the UAAP’s reputation as a top-tier Asian collegiate league in the process.

This concept of talent migration further emphasizes the need to uphold objectivity, fairness, and most of all, consistency within the league’s ruling. In practice, however, the Best FSA award fails to strike that balance, with the award only coming into play whenever an FSA tops the SPs rankings. Another point of criticism is the fact that the MVP title has not been rebranded as “The Best Local Player” to reflect the change.

Semantically, it remains the same, but in prestige, the MVP award no longer bears the same significance. Compounding the confusion is the inclusion of players like Mike Phillips, who were raised abroad but are afforded the same classification as locally developed talents. Even if they are dual citizens by definition, the reality still highlights an inconsistency with the ruling.

On the flip side, if the league truly wanted to recognize local talent even when an FSA wins the MVP, a separate “Best Local Player” award could have been created.  This solution can ensure the MVP award remains in the hands of the FSA player and can be applied vice versa. Nevertheless, this hypothetical framework comes with very clear challenges, including the risk of segregation and overcomplication.

This argument may spark inquiry into whether the league is clumsily trying to recognize local talents without being criticized for exclusion, underlining the actual pitfalls of the current implementation. If the reverse were to take place, where local players win a Best Local Player award instead, there would inevitably be backlash—especially given the UAAP’s status as a national league. Even more pressing is the fact that the same consideration appears not to be applied to FSAs.

While there are many possible alternatives to combat this issue, the UAAP has ultimately landed on this iteration of the ruling. Doing so reveals either a major oversight or deliberate alienation of FSAs, a phenomenon present in other Philippine collegiate leagues.

The Philippines’ NCAA, for instance, banned international athletes in 2020, and while the Best FSA rule is not as drastic, it still reflects an ever-shifting landscape that increasingly hinders them. Even the anonymous athlete expressed a wish that the NCAA had at least allowed one foreign player in the lineup. According to him, most athletes just “want to enjoy the game.”

In an ideal world, the UAAP—a platform that brings athletes to stardom—would offer the same opportunities for all. As such, the Best FSA award signals a shift away from a league that favors merit above all, now tailoring toward domestic players. Local talents indeed bring a lot of fanfare to the game, but that does not mean FSAs should be sidelined as unfair components of the sport. Instead, they should be embraced and recognized for the unique contributions they bring to the UAAP.

The overall dilemma leads to one final question the league must answer: What makes someone “The Most Valuable”? Is it their play on the court, or the player they wish to be the most valuable?