Top Letran sports official rules out game-fixing as motive in Dysam shooting

THE police investigation has just began, but this early Letran's top sports official is ruling out game-fixing as a possible motive behind the ambush of Knights back-up point guard Franz Dysam and his late girlfriend Joan Sordan.

Websites, including Spin.ph, have been bombarded with comments from fans who fear game-fixing may have something to do with the shooting in San Juan early Saturday night that led to Sordan’s death and left Dysam with four bullet wounds.

Dysam is now in stable condition and is set to undergo surgery on Monday. (For full story on the player's condition, see Dysam in stable condition, undergoes operation to remove four bullets in body)

But Letran athletic director Fr. Vic Calvo, O.P. said there is "no chance" that the incident may have links to game-fixing, saying the circumstances as well as Dysam’s scoring average, among other statistics, are not a cause for suspicion.

“I’m not entertaining it. No chance.” Calvo, a Dominican priest who serves as Letran’s representative to the NCAA management committee, told Spin.ph.

Dysam is averaging just two points, along with 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and two turnovers in 10.4 minutes per game in the Knights' first five games of the season, where he served as chief back-up to starter Mark Cruz.

Calvo, however, said he cannot speak on behalf of his fellow ManCom members.

ManCom chair Dax Castellano of College of St. Benilde could not be reached for comment as of posting time, while Jose Rizal University’s Paul Supan refused to answer the query posed by Spin.ph, saying only that he is praying for Dysam’s “speedy recovery.”

After the initial investigation, police say they are looking into a “love triangle” involving the couple and one of Sordan’s former lovers as among the possible motives. (For full story, see 'Love triangle' among angles pursued by police in aftermath of Dysam shooting)

It was the first time a collegiate cager was shot since 2008, when Barangay Ginebra forward Mac Baracael, then playing for Far Eastern University, figured in a similar incident near the school's campus.

That incident has also raised alarm that it had something to do with game-fixing in the country's top collegiate leagues. The case remains unsolved to this day.

Follow the writer on Twitter: @KarloSacamos