PBA to monitor players’ whereabouts ahead of practice resumption

FILE PHOTO – Alaska during the resumption of practices for the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—The PBA  will leave no stone unturned when it comes to monitoring its players ahead of the team practices and scrimmages in preparation for the new season.

League Commissioner Willie Marcial said the players will have to record the times they leave their houses in the SafePass app to make sure that their interactions outside of their homes are limited and monitored.

This is in line with the league’s stringent measures implemented for practices as the PBA wants to limit COVID-19 infections to zero if possible.

“They just have to tell us if they left their houses for example to buy groceries or if there’s an emergency because there are corresponding protocols for that,” said Marcial in Filipino during a virtual press briefing Friday. “But once we find out that they went somewhere and they violated the closed-circuit monitoring then there will be consequences.”

Marcial said that violators will be slapped with a hefty fine, a 10-day suspension, or both if they are indeed found guilty.

The fines will also be bigger than the P100,000 sanction implemented during the Philippine Cup inside the Clark bubble.

“We will increase the fines because we want this to be successful and this isn’t just for them, this is also for their fellow players, teammates, team staff, and for their families and the families of their teammates,” said Marcial. “I hope they understand.”

PBA teams are now allowed to conduct practices and scrimmages with the league setting up venues in Batangas City so that clubs need not travel far from Metro Manila.