RIFT THREATENS TO AFFECT OPENING

LOS ANGELES— With the rift between two factions in the Philippine Basketball Association’s board of governors far from over, several team representatives admitted on Saturday that the issue could drag on and ultimately affect the opening of the 43rd season.

“We’re bracing for the worst,” one board member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said after both parties agreed to a ceasefire last week.

The first of what was supposed to be four days of planning sessions has turned into a vacation here.

“I’m sure the others (fellow board members know that), but we are fighting for our principles here,” the Inquirer source went on.

“We also know that the sooner this issue is resolved, the better for the league. But how do we resolve it?”

Two weeks ago, a seventeam group has called for the resignation of Chito Narvasa as commissioner, while a fiveteam side threw its full support behind Narvasa, creating a standstill with the next season slated to open on Dec. 17.

The board member further said that his team will change its decision on whose side it will be on. But because of the ceasefire, the board member also requested not to print which side his team is on.

The seven-team side had appointed an officer-in- charge in long time PBA operations manager Rickie Santos, supposedly to assure that the league would run even without a commissioner.

Three teams—TNT KaTropa, Phoenix Petroleum and Rain or Shine—don’t have representatives here, showing how divided this board has become on the issue.

A fourth squad, NLEX, whose representative is the incoming chair, has also been rumored to be skipping the trip.

Ramoncito Fernandez, the NLEX board member, is scheduled to arrive on Nov. 14.

Even if the league opens at a later date, the format for the next season remains, with the Philippine Cup to be the first of three conferences.