At A Glance
- The PBA is set to hold its first-ever official games in Bahrain, commissioner Willie Marcial and Bahrain Basketball Association president Alaa Mudara said in a joint press conference during the half time of the Game 5 of the San Miguel-TNT Philippine Cup Finals at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, July 23.
The PBA is set to hold its first-ever official games in Bahrain, commissioner Willie Marcial and Bahrain Basketball Association president Alaa Mudara said in a joint press conference during the half time of the Game 5 of the San Miguel-TNT Philippine Cup Finals at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, July 23.
The league said that three PBA teams are flying to the Middle East country to play two games on Dec. 15 and 17 as part of the celebration of Bahrain’s National Day on Dec. 16.
“We’ll have the same format like in Dubai with three teams, back-to-back games yung isa,” said Marcial, referring to the league’s overseas games in 2019 Barangay Ginebra, NLEX and San Miguel played.
“It will be held during the National Day of Bahrain. It will be a great time to have these games on a holiday, so fans will have a great time watching the games,” said Mudara, who revealed that he once played at the Big Dome against PBA legends like Robert Jaworski.
On the part of the PBA, the Bahrain games are still part of the league’s 50th anniversary celebration which also features a set of games to be staged in Dubai by October.
And a lot could still be in store for overseas Filipino workers who are big fans of the PBA as there’s still ongoing talks between the PBA and other Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
"We're very happy to host the games in Bahrain. We've done it (host Filipino ballers) in the past, a few national team games but this time, we're going to have PBA teams for PBA fans to enjoy, especially Filipinos who can't come to the Philippines to watch the games,” added Mudara.