In a Facebook post, Petrov bared that he and Obiena are now seeing the fruit of their 7-year worth of sacrifices and efforts while “money has never been an issue”.

“After working hard for the past seven years, we are starting to see the results of our combined effort and hard work. We are now a true contender in the event and one of the best pole vaulters in the world,” said Petrov.

“Now that the time has come for EJ to realise his hard work (and) reap the reward of our time and effort, then suddenly, PATAFA cancels me as their coach,” he said.

The Obiena-PATAFA conflict had been running for five months when the latter claimed that it was Petrov who first filed the complaint about not receiving his compensation as a coach to Obiena, but all allegations were denied by Obiena and Petrov.

As the conflict continued to branch out, Petrov lashed out that he “was never Philip Juico’s pole vault coach.”

“I am the coach of Thiago Braz, Sergey Bubka, Yelena Isinbaeva and EJ Obiena. I am proudly the coach of these hard-working athletes,” he declared.

Obiena declined the mediation offer of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) but it does not take the fact that he was a world-class athlete.

“In my humble view, I have helped a young boy from a country that didn’t have the history or the resources to create a world-class pole vaulter,” Petrov also said. “Now that EJ is finally a top 5 pole vaulter in the world, his own federation president, Philip Ella Juico, kicks him out of the team for nothing.”

“If this federation is dropping a world-class athlete instead of helping, drops his coach who have trained him to be one of the best pole vaulters, brands a sports patron persona non grata who have done nothing but helped bring this Filipino boy to where he is now, then I ask what is this federation doing?” Petrov said of the PATAFA.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Obiena asked for forgiveness for what happened.

“I am truly sorry, coach, for the mess that this has brought to you,” said Obiena.

Obiena also shared how thankful he was for having Petrov as a coach.

“He told me five words I will never forget: I am waiting for you,” Obiena said of Petrov. “I wept like a little boy. I don’t know why a coach who has won it all and has all the options in the world would still want me, a guy with a broken leg.”

“Thank you coach, for always looking out for me, for wanting me to be the best that I can possibly be, for pushing me to represent my country honorably, to always carry myself with pride and honor, a true representative of my country and to be best version that I can be,” he added.