Special PBA board meeting on Gilas’ Olympic Wildcard stint set

Gilas Pilipinas winds up with the silver medal in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship after losing to host China Saturday night. Photo from Fiba.com

The PBA Board of Governors is set to discuss the league’s plans for the men’s national basketball team in a special board meeting on Wednesday.

The most immediate concern is Gilas stint in the Olympic Wild card tournament next year with the deadline for confirmation of participation just five days away.

PBA president Chito Salud announced the development Tuesday in the PBA preseason press conference at Diamond Hotel.

“The chairman (Robert Non) has already called for a special board meeting tomorrow,” he said.

After its silver medal finish in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship, the Philippines earned a spot in the final Olympic qualifying tournament next year, where three spots are up for grabs in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Together with Asian rivals Iran and Japan, the Philippines will have to duke it out against powerhouse nations France, Serbia, Canada, Angola, and World Cup foes Puerto Rico, Greece, and Senegal.

“After that (meeting), we will have a clear cut, unambiguous position on this,” said Salud.