Jaja Santiago, now Sachi Minowa, recently changed her citizenship to Japanese. But a new FIVB rule prohibits her from playing for Japan's national team.
Jaja Santiago, now known as Sachi Minowa, looked bound to play for Japan’s national volleyball team after officially obtaining her Japanese citizenship.
However, a recent FIVB rule change may now jeopardize Minowa’s dream of playing for the Hinotori Nippon.
According to PNVF and newly-elected AVC president Ramon ’Tats’ Suzara, Santiago may have her Japanese citizenship, but her federation of origin remains with the Philippines.
“Jaja is now a Japanese citizen. She is married. But there was a new rule last year by FIVB that if you played in the national team of another country, you can't transfer federations anymore,” Suzara explained during a PSA Forum on Tuesday, September 10.
“Even if Jaja has two passports, I'm sure that's a Philippine passport and a Japanese passport, the federation of origin is still the Philippines. When you change federation, one-time lang 'yan. Once nag-change ng federation, hindi ka na puwedeng bumalik sa old federation,” he added.
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The latest FIVB regulations, updated in May 2024, outline stringent conditions for changing federations. Specifically, Article 5.2 of these regulations highlights that the player must not have represented their original federation's senior national team to transfer federations.
Section 5.2.3 further underscores that a critical condition for such a transfer is that the player has not previously competed with the senior national team of their origin federation.
Additionally, Article 2.1 states that individuals with the nationality of a country are eligible to play for that country's national team, provided their federation of origin is the same.
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Suzara explained this clause further in the case of former F2 Logistics Cargo Movers superstar and former national team member Kalei Mau.
“If you remember Kalei Mau, so she changed federation. She has an American passport, a dual passport. Then she changed federation one time, so right now, the federation of origin of Kalei Mau is [the] Philippines, but her passport is Philippines and USA,” said Suzara. “So, she cannot federation anymore. Every time she plays abroad, she has to ask permission from the Philippines.”
With this in mind, the PNVF president bared that Santiago’s eligibility to play for Japan is restricted by her past involvement with the Philippine team.
“I told Jaja that I supported her sa FIVB because of these new rules. Ang problema, Jaja already played sa national team sa Philippines three or four times already,” said Suzara.
“Kung hindi naglaro si Jaja sa national team, she can change federations. Madali 'yun. But since she played, by the record ng FIVB, she cannot change federations anymore. With the new rule, she can never play with Japan,” he added.
Interestingly, Santiago’s change in nationality does not preclude her from continuing to play for the Philippine national team if she chooses to do so.
With the national team evolving since her last appearance in 2022, Santiago could return and play for the country if current coach Jorge Souza de Brito decides to include her.
“She can still play with Philippines. Puwede pa siya because her federation of origin is Philippines. Hindi passport ang binabasehan dito, federation of origin. Jaja is still Filipino by nature who played for the national team. Kung hindi siya nag-national team, puwedeng mag-transfer,” Suzara said.
“She is welcome to play in the Philippine national team. But for her to represent Japan at the moment, no,” he added.