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PBA season remains on hold unless COVID cases decline

Sports | Basketball

PBA season remains on hold unless COVID cases decline

By Jonas Terrado

Photo from PBA

The PBA will not be able to stage the 46th season under a closed-circuit setup unless there’s a decline in COVID-19 cases.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial bared Thursday, April 29, bared the condition set by the government a day after he and San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua met with Sen. Bong Go and executive secretary Salvador Medialdea at Malacanang.

Marcial added that it will remain in effect even if the whole PBA family was vaccinated.

“Sinabi nila na kailangang bumaba talaga ang cases ng COVID kasi kung hindi bababa baka hindi tayo makapaglaro (They told us that COVID-19 cases need to go down or else there’s a chance to we might not play),” Marcial said in a virtual press briefing.

Plans for Season 46 to tip off are at a standstill after a surge in COVID-19 cases since last month prompted stricter community quarantine measures that included the return of ECQ in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan for two weeks last month.

A two-conference season under a protocol that limits the movement of players, coaches and staff from their homes to practice and playing venues is something that PBA would like to have compared to last year’s bubble in Pampanga.

Another bubble is being considered by PBA officials, but only as a last resort in the event there’s no way for the season to get underway under a closed-circuit arrangement.

But there are ongoing talks with the provincial government of Ilocos Norte regarding the possibility of staging a bubble up north.

Related Tags

PBA bubble PBA Season 46 PBA Philippine Cup Willie Marcial pba

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