NBL, WNBL season postponed due to COVID-19 surge
MANILA, Philippines — The National Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League are postponing their plans to open the 2021 season due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Putting health and safety first, the NBL will reassess its next move on how to go about with the 2021 season after the Holy Week, which also marks the end of the two-week general community quarantine in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal and Laguna.
“We want to stress that the safety of the teams and the players is our top priority before we push through with the season opening,” said NBL/WNBL chairman Celso Mercado.
The league, which has also formed an ad-hoc committee to monitor the situation in the next two weeks, will set two venues—one each from the north and south of NCR— for the games with testing, symptoms monitoring, and tracking supervised by the Games and Amusements Board.
The NBL and the WNBL have been initially eyeing to hold games under a closed-circuit setup in low-risk MGCQ areas outside the National Capital Region where teams will only travel from home to venue under strict health and safety protocols.
The WNBL is set to hold its inaugural professional season after gaining professional status from the GAB.
Teams have already begun their buildup following the draft selection last February.
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