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Gilas teammates come to Kiefer's defense in wake of FIBA ban

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/05/31/ravena.jpg"/><figcaption>Kiefer Ravena watches NLEX&#x27;s game against Blackwater. Richard Esguerra, <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/pba/photos">ABS-CBN Sports</a></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – The news of Kiefer Ravena&#x27;s 18-month suspension by FIBA – due to a failed drug test – was met with shock and dismay by the Philippine sports community this week.Once Ravena explained the circumstances that led to his failed test, however, the NLEX rookie was mostly spared of harsh criticism and instead received strong support from his fellow athletes, coaches, and other personalities.Players and fans alike tweeted that they &quot;stand with Kiefer,&quot; several coaches lauded him for how he was handling the situation, and Philippine sports officials made it clear that Ravena had made an honest mistake.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">He took a pre-workout supplement that is sold OTC here in the Phils, but contained ingredients included in the WADA prohibited substances list. They are NOT illegal drugs. Honest mistake. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/westandbyKiefer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#westandbyKiefer</a>— Chot Reyes (@coachot) <a href="https://twitter.com/coachot/status/1001050096581017600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>However, there were still those who were quite critical of Ravena, questioning his decision to ingest a pre-workout drink that contained banned substances, and lambasting the player for how his suspension will impact the national team program.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">&quot;I call bullshit, Kiefer Ravena. Ni-research ko yung ininom mo and easily found posts warning people that it contained banned substances for some sports. How stupid do you have to be not to look it up and check if it&#x27;s safe for you, a National Team athlete? Bullshit. Bullshit.&quot;— UAAP Confessions (@UAAPconfessions) <a href="https://twitter.com/UAAPconfessions/status/1001058567791656961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Kiefer failing a FIBA drug test is bad news. I hope it doesn&#x27;t lead to Gilas being suspended and disqualified but who knows. Shame on you Kiefer Ravena.— JC (@JC_2594) <a href="https://twitter.com/JC_2594/status/1000905634206765056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>For Gilas Pilipinas standout and San Miguel Beer rookie Christian Standhardinger, these critics are well out of line.&quot;I&#x27;ve been seeing a lot of bad comments regarding that, regarding Kiefer&#x27;s character, and that&#x27;s just complete... I don&#x27;t know if I can use the word, but bullsh*t,&quot; the Filipino-German standout told reporters following their game against Phoenix on Wednesday night.&quot;Kiefer is a great guy, he&#x27;s a very responsible guy, he&#x27;s a great Gilas teammate,&quot; said Standhardinger, launching into a defense of Ravena whom he played with in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.Standhardinger pointed out that the list of banned substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency is &quot;a freaking long list.&quot;&quot;It&#x27;s very easy to just have an error and make a mistake there,&quot; he insisted. &quot;It&#x27;s a long list, and it changes every year. It can change every year so you&#x27;re never aware of anything. You never know, okay, is this on there or is this not on there.&quot;Moreover, Ravena is already being punished – and in a major way – by not being allowed to play basketball in FIBA and in the PBA until August of next year.&quot;That&#x27;s a big punishment, being out for 18 months, and that&#x27;s his punishment,&quot; said Standhardinger. &quot;There should not be any bad comments or bad-mouthing, or shaming. That&#x27;s not your spot to do, you know? He got his punishment, he took responsibility, what more do you want to do?&quot;Standhardinger also commended Ravena for handling the situation &quot;with a lot of character and responsibility.&quot; &quot;It&#x27;s a good learning point for all of the Gilas players,&quot; he added.Kevin Alas, another Gilas player and Ravena&#x27;s teammate in NLEX, also asked fans not to judge the rookie guard.&quot;It was really an honest mistake,&quot; said Alas, who is also out of action himself as he recovers from an ACL injury. &quot;Parang pwede na nangyari sa akin &#x27;yun eh.&quot;&quot;Nagkataon lang na nangyari nga eh, and at the same time naman, parang we don&#x27;t have anti-doping facilities here to know kung ano &#x27;yung mga tine-take natin,&quot; he pointed out. &quot;We can all learn from this naman.&quot;San Miguel star June Mar Fajardo shared the same sentiment – it could have been anyone of them.&quot;Pwedeng mangyari sa kahit na sino sa amin &#x27;yun eh. &#x27;Di naman namin alam na may ganoong substance na bawal,&quot; explained the big man. &quot;Kahit soft drinks nga, iinom ka, &#x27;di mo tinitingnan ingredients &#x27;di ba?&quot;Fajardo sympathizes with Ravena, who is in an undoubtedly tough situation. &quot;Heto na &#x27;yung pinaka-hanapbuhay namin,&quot; he said. &quot;Tapos 18 months? Mahirap &#x27;yun para sa kanya, para sa pamilya niya.&quot;In the end, he simply offered his support to Ravena, as did most other PBA players and Filipino athletes.&quot;Malalampasan niya din &#x27;yun,&quot; said Fajardo. &quot;Prayers para sa kanya, andito lang kami at susuportahan namin siya. Pakatatag lang siya.&quot; For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

Gilas teammates come to Kiefer's defense in wake of FIBA ban

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Gilas teammates come to Kiefer's defense in wake of FIBA ban

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 31, 2018 12:30 PM PHT

Read More:

FIBA

Kiefer Ravena

Gilas Pilipinas

Christian Standhardinger

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