THE PBA is looking at the possibility of adding an additional playdate to its regular weekly schedule once the Philippine Cup resumes in Pampanga.
According to Deputy Commissioner Eric Castro, inserting games onThursdays of each week will enable the pro league to wind up the season-ending tournament in October.
“We’re looking at the possibility, yes,” said Castro, also the PBA’s operations chief.
“Playing on Thursdays para bumilis tayo, ma-meet natin ‘yung matapos tayo ng October,” he added.
Playing daily would speed up the tournamentbut is out of the question due to the mandatory weekly swab testing by the league being held every Monday.
“There would be little chance of playing games daily,” Castro said.”Mondays would be for our testing and Tuesdays would be for the turnaround of the results kaya hindi talaga puwede araw-araw laro.”
Since kicking off the new season last July 16, the PBA has been playing on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and even held tripleheaders to make up for time lost when its early April start was repeatedly moved back.
Another delay came when the PBA voluntarily halted play last Aug. 4 in anticipation of the government putting Metro Manila in a virtual lockdown from Aug. 6-20 to head off the spread of the coronavirus’ highlytransmissible and lethal Delta variant.
The PBA intends to resume the tournament at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga, and Castro said the teams could move into and get settled in their accommodations in the province as early as later this week.
Castro said all documents required by the provincial government have been submitted and the PBA is waiting for the formal green light from the office of Pampanga Gov. Delfin Pineda.
The league’s Pampanga stint is expected to be for the duration of the tournament.
Having been allowed by the IATF to play in areas where the quarantine levels are GCQ or MGCQ, the pro league may return to Metro Manila once the Big City’s status, currently at ECQ, eases up to GCQ.
But that transition may take at least another month and would still depend on whether the number of COVID cases in Metro Manila goes down.
