PH offers to host next bubble of Fiba qualifiers

FIBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Following what the PBA is doing in the Philippine Cup, the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas is pushing for the hosting rights for the February window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The SBP is looking at the model that the PBA implemented for the All-Filipino Conference in an attempt to have the Philippines host at most eight teams for the planned Fiba bubble in Clark, Pampanga.

“We’ve actually offered FIBA to host the next window in February, and to host some games here, as similar as to what Commissioner Willie [Marcial] and the PBA has done in Clark,” said SBP President Al Panlilio in a Zoom press conference Thursday.

Panlilio added that SBP has started communicating with Bases Conversion and Development Authority CEO Vince Dizon in their plans of staging the Fiba bubble.

The PBA has been in a bubble environment in Clark since October for the Philippine Cup and has so far continued on with their games despite a couple of false positive cases involving a referee and one player from Blackwater.

With the games held every day since it started, the PBA is already in the first game of the semifinals and is expected to end the conference by December.

Panlilio said that the PBA bubble would be their guide for their own plans that they would present to Fiba.

“It is a model that we can offer to Fiba for the next hosting in February,” said Panlilio.

SBP Chairman Emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan expressed his confidence in having a bubble environment for Fiba as it would require them to serve fewer people than what the PBA did.

“The advantage is most likely we’ll have three or four teams [here] if we’re lucky to host,” said Pangilinan to which Panlilio chimed in that Clark can accommodate “six to eight” teams.

“I think we can handle it,” added Pangilinan.