With the government extending the Enhanced Community Quarantine to April 30, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is reducing Season 45 to a two conference-format, which could be further cut down should the spread of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) continue in the country.
According to a report from the league’s website, pba.ph, this is what was decided after an online board meeting on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
“The leaning of the board right now is two conferences. Pero kapag humaba pa ang current situation, baka maging isang conference na lang. Apart from it the board is also concerned with the welfare of the fans, the employees and the players,” said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial after the online board meeting called by PBA chairman Ricky Vargas.
All board members and members of the Commissioner’s Office mancomm were able to hook up in the online meeting except NorthPort’s Erick Arejola, who is mourning the passing of his grandmother.
PPEs for frontliners
In the same meeting, the board also agreed to donate to the frontliners in the battle against the deadly disease.
“The board has decided to donate P1 million worth of PPEs. I was tasked to be the point man. Ako ang maghahanap ng gagawa ng PPEs, at i-do-donate namin ito doon sa mas mga nangangailangan,” said Marcial.
The PBA officials were unanimous in their decision to continue to help the regular PBA employees as well as the PBA game-day personnel like the referees, table officials, statisticians and others.
According to the league commissioner, the board is still set to hold the league’s inaugural 3×3 tournament but will decide on the fate of the D-League after the collegiate leagues have made their decisions on their respective 2020 seasons.
“Should they (school leagues) decide to scrap theirs, then the D-League would push through. But we’re also talking to the teams,” said Marcial.
“As for the 3×3, we’ll convene the teams once the PBA tourney has resumed. The plan remains the same, magsisimula maglaro ang 3×3 sa mga third week ng PBA season,” Marcial added.
The board will meet again after April 30.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
