PBA looking at Pampanga for rest of Philippine Cup

The Ginebra-Magnolia match was one of the best so far. —PBA
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The PBA is hoping to reboot its stalled Philippine Cup in Pampanga province by the last week of August and might be staying there for a while, the Inquirer learned on Monday.

“Hopefully, by the end of this month, we can resume our games,” Eric Castro, the league’s deputy commissioner and technical director, said over the phone.

“We’re heading back to Pampanga this Tuesday to meet with Gov. Dennis Pineda and know whether we’re cleared to proceed,” he added.

The league is looking at the cities of San Fernando, Angeles, and the municipality of Bacolor as possible venues—with the latter shaping up as a prime choice.According to Castro, several teams intend to pitch camp at Quest Hotel in Clark Freeport—the league’s home during last year’s bubble games—while others are considering renting out properties, owing to the nightmarish hurdles brought on by the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Metro Manila.

There, the league will still employ a closed-circuit system.

“We will not be allowed to go back to our homes while the games are on, so it’s going to be a bubble of sorts there in Pampanga,” he added.

The PBA’s relocation bid was originally intended to ride out the lockdown, but the league, citing the persisting threat of new infections, is hedging its bets.

“We’re hoping to come back to NCR, of course. But there’s also that big possibility that we’re going to be in Pampanga [for a while] considering the threat of this new [Delta] variant,” said Castro.

In that scenario, the PBA may add matches to each of its traditional playdates of Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Another option is to render Thursdays a game day.

“But that will also be subject to the team governors’ approval. We all know how hard [playing a condensed schedule] is,” Castro said, referring to the last year’s salvaged Philippine Cup in Clark Freeport where the league played practically every day. INQ