Marcial to meet with coaches, team managers ahead of PBA practice restart

FILE – PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — PBA commissioner Willie Marcial is set to meet with coaches and team managers Friday and discuss guidelines and protocols ahead of the resumption of practices.

In the meeting, Marcial will be explaining the measures the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) provided to the league for its approved training restart.

The IATF last week gave the PBA the green light to allow its teams to resume its practices in a restricted capacity.

“I’m thankful to the government, the task force for giving us the opportunity to practice. It’s big for us,” Marcial said in Filipino in a story on the PBA website.

“The first step is we’re going to meet with the coaches and team managers on Friday regarding the protocols, comments, suggestions and other things that they would like to address,” Marcial added.

Marcial also said a board meeting with the PBA governors will follow as early as Saturday while practices could finally resume after five to seven days.

The league’s training restart has been limited to just six individuals at a time with scrimmages still prohibited to ensure that compliance with standard health protocols such as social distancing will be observed.

Staff members of all 12 teams have also been required to undergo COVID-19 testing which will have to be submitted three days before the resumption of practices.