Thursday, June 19, 2025

PBA to tackle nagging questions

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THE PBA will try to provide answers to some nagging questions when the pro league’s governors meet Monday next week.

Foremost among the topics to be discussed are the steps the PBA will take to push through with its 46th season that has been put on indefinite hold due to the pandemic.

“Sa Monday ma-de-desisyonan na iyan kung papaano na tayo, ‘yung direksyon natin,” Marcial told Malaya-Business-Insight yesterday.

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Marcial also admitted, however, that what may be decided on by the teams’ representatives are sure to undergo more amendments. “Depende sa sit’wasyon,” he explained.

What kind of season format, when to start, where to play the games and if the pro league would be enforcing pay cuts to ease the severe financial strains on the franchise owners are tops in the agenda.

“Base sa mga usapan last year, iyung iba (teams) okay, ‘yung iba naman okay na huwag,” related Marcial.

“Pero ngayon di ko masabi. Pag-uusapan lahat iyan and sana malinaw-linaw na tayo after ng meeting,” added Marcial.

The PBA had initially planned on a two-conference, 10-month season that should be kicking off this Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Due to the drastic rise in COVID cases, the government placed Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces, including Rizal, under the restrictive ECQ the last two weeks, preventing the league from pushing ahead with its opening.

Starting last Monday, the quarantine level in the NCR Plus bubble has been eased to MECQ until the end of the month but that quarantine level is still two notches above what is needed for sports activities like basketball to be allowed to resume.

Marcial is hoping all the vaccines ordered by the PBA and MVP and SMC groups from the pharmaceutical companies would come later this month so that all the teams and related personnel would be inoculated for the PBA to start as early as nex month.

“May ang pinaka-ayos na mag-start tayo. Kailangan magsimula na tayo ng May,” said Marcial.

“Iyung June, lalo na July, sobrang layo na nu’n, sobrang tagal na ‘yun,” he added. “Imagine pag July tayo nag-start.  May vaccine na tayo ng July. Kailangan magsimula na tayo ng May, June. June sobrang tagal na nu’n. Philippine Cup apat na buwan ang schedule. Biruin mo, isang conference aabutin na tayo ng November?”

In that scenario, the season-ending Governors Cup would then encroach well into next year and would have to be shortened from its current six-month format, according to Marcial.

“Second conference p’wedeng bawasan na iyon,” said Marcial before cautioning: “Iyon ang kasama sa pag-uusapan, kung one conference o dalawa pa rin.”

If circumstances change in the following weeks, the hilltop venue in Antipolo remains the main option as venue.

“Kapag may bakuna na lahat, sigurado tayo sa Rizal,” he said. “Pag hindi pa tayo pinayagan dito sa NCR okay na Rizal kung maluwag na doon.”

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