The PBA is set to resume the elimination round of its season-ending Governors’ Cup on Feb. 11 after being put on hold for weeks when the country encountered an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial confirmed the timetable for the resumption of the reinforced tournament shortly after the government announced that it would place Metro Manila back under Alert Level 2 starting Feb. 1.
He added that teams can now begin holding full practices on the same day as when the restrictions are relaxed, giving them 10 days to prepare before the Governors’ Cup gets back into swing.
Marcial also bared that the relaxed regulations mean that the league will no longer need the clearance of the Local Government Units through the Metro Manila Development Authority.
It would be recalled that the league sought the help of MMDA chairman Benhur Abalos in hopes of being allowed by concerned cities in the NCR to hold practices under Alert Level 3.
“Tinawagan ako ni Chairman Abalos at sinabi na may endorsement letter na sila na ibibigay sa mga LGUs,” Marcial; said. “Pero nag-announce na sila na babalik sa Alert Level 2 kaya di na natin kailangan ng endorsement.“
The Smart Araneta Coliseum will likely be the venue for the restart, but Marcial said fans will likely be barred for the first few playdates.
From there, the PBA will figure out as to when the games can be played in front of an audience.
PBA games were put on hold earlier this month when a sudden increase in daily cases prompted the government to put NCR under Alert Level 3.
The league initially suspended games slated Jan. 5 to 9, but eventually extended the break as it would rather wait for the cases, which reached a one-day tally of almost 40,000, to go down.
Some teams and even members of the PBA staff were also hit with infections which also contributed to the decision to put the games on pause.
Teams were permitted to hold workouts limited to seven individuals that included a coach and a safety officer.