PBA GETS IATF’S NOD ON BUBBLE
THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is back. PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas relayed the good news on Thursday after the league secured a provisional approval from the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to hold games inside a bubble in Pampanga.
“They [IATF] just said that it was just provisional because the PBA protocols are a lot stricter than the protocols that have been set up by the joint committee [Joint Administrative Order], ”vargas told the Businessmirror in a phone interview.
The IATF gave the PBA the clearance to resume its shuttered 45th season’s Philippine Cup in a bubble setup in Clark and at the Angeles University Foundation Gym.
The PBA, however, moved back its scheduled entry to the bubble by two days to Monday and the resumption of the Philippine Cup action to October 11 after initially experiencing delays in the swab testing of everyone involved in the bubble.
The players, coaches and league staff will be housed at the Quest Hotel at the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone. The bubble will last for 49 days.
“They [IATF] gave us the go ahead signal to move on with our plans,” said Vargas, noting the huge development is a relief to all Filipinos who missed the games for six months.
The Philippine Cup opened with only one game in March after the league was ran over by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a dream come true after six months of waiting. We never thought of this, but we never lost hope,” vargas said. “The [PBA] board just kept on going and going and did their best. Now, we are here and we will start the scrimmages there [in Clark].”
Vargas thanked the IATF member and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Vivencio Dizon, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President and Chief Executive Officer Noel Manankil and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go for their all-out support to the league.
Commissioner Willie Marcial was excited to hear the good news.
“I am happy. The PBA is now here. Filipino fans are now able to watch games on their television sets,” said Marcial, adding swab testing of everyone who will be in the bubble is ongoing.
The teams, Marcial said, have only until Friday to submit their roster for the bubble.
“Scrimmages and games are already allowed. Teams will head to Clark on September 28 and 29 and they will be tested again,” Marcial said. “They will be under quarantine for 24 hours. Players are given until October 10 to enter the bubble.”
The Philippine Cup will now carry a single-round robin elimination with the top 4 teams earning a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals against the fifth to eighth squads. The semifinals will be best-of-five and finals will be a best-of-seven.
The IATF, meanwhile, asked organizers of the inaugural Chooks-to-go Pilipinas 3x3 to revise its competition plan and was advised to hold its debut in a bubble similar to the PBA model.
The 3x3 professional league, the first in the country, set an October 2 opening at the Inspire Academy in Calamba, Laguna, under a home-venue-home system.