PBA board to resolve Narvasa issue in US

PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Amid the divisiveness never before seen in the 42 years of the PBA, its board of governors departs for Los Angeles in the United States on Friday to, first, resolve the burning issue on who the commissioner is, before proceeding to what this trip was penciled for.

Representatives of nine of the 12 teams fly out before midnight, two days after a closed-door meeting of the board failed to break the impasse.

READ: Seven PBA governors stand firm, urge Narvasa to resign

A seven-team group wants Chito Narvasa out as commissioner, while a five-team faction involving San Miguel Corporation’s three teams has thrown its full support behind Narvasa.

Both sides have refused to back down an inch, making this supposed trip for a planning session for the coming season one of the most crucial that this body will have since the early years of the league.

READ: Narvasa remains defiant: I’m fighting for principle 

GlobalPort’s Erick Arejola and Alaska’s Dickie Bachmann, who belong on opposite sides of the fence, have flown out ahead of the others, while incoming chair Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX will join the group on Nov. 13.

Trouble started last week when the seven-team group led by sister teams Meralco, TNT KaTropa and NLEX came out with its wish of not wanting to give Narvasa a fresh term, citing loss of confidence after two years at the helm.