Chinese fans at the venue of the Fiba Asia Championship games. Photo from Fiba.com
CHANGSHA CITY, China – Some members of the PBA’s board of governors were relieved to find out on Friday morning that they will be able to see the Gilas Pilipinas vs Japan Final Four match-up in the Fiba Asia Championship here.
But unlike those watching at home, these executives won’t be seeing what is expected to be a classic confrontation between host China and defending champion Iran in the other half of the semifinals at Changsha Social Work College Gym.
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Prices may have soared, but the Chinese fans have still gobbled up all tickets—including those worth more than $1,500 (around P70,000) for a ringside seat.
Scalpers are having a heyday but the man taking care of the PBA board members still couldn’t get the tickets that would allow them to see both matches.
The Fiba’s scheduling of games here is quite unique, dividing the games into three cards for the day. All of them have varying prices, since the first four matches are classification games.
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Andrew Teh, the SBP executive who is also the travel agent of the group, made arrangements with organizers to allow the Philippine delegation to enter the venue after the China-Iran game.
Teh said that they will be paying for tickets priced for the second batch of games, or after the crowd for the main game featuring the home team would have left the coliseum.