GAB extends reach with more leagues turning pro in 2021

Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chair Abraham “Baham” Mitra during the PSA Forum.

MANILA, Philippines–Aside from basketball, boxing and mixed martial arts, the Games and Amusements Board has added volleyball, football, chess and esports to the expanding sphere of professional sports in the country this year.

And it’s quite ironic that the growth happened amid the raging and restrictive global COVID-19 health crisis.

“We tried to innovate and made so much effort to revive sports in this pandemic,’’ said GAB Chairman Abraham Kahlil “Baham’’ Mitra.

“It’s not easy, but because of the support of the leagues, the promoters, the players themselves and of course the sponsors, professional sports has already resumed together with a live audience,’’ added Mitra.

The latest addition to the regulatory body’s jurisdiction is the fast-growing Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, which turned professional recently, joining the ranks of the Philippine Basketball Association and Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup.

Also being strictly monitored by the GAB are other basketball leagues such as the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3, National Basketball League, Women’s National Basketball League and Filipino players and teams in the East Asia Super League.

The GAB issues the professional licenses of the players, allowing them to play for pay and sustain their livelihood.

“Having a license requires you to act as a professional. It’s given, but it’s not a right. It’s a privilege, but it can be taken away anytime,’’ said Mitra, whose agency was named Commission of the Year by the World Boxing Council twice, this year and back in 2017.

“As a professional, you are asked to undergo a training seminar on what it is to be a professional. You have to denounce all forms of game-fixing and you have to respect your peers, opponents, and of course the team and league officials,’’ he added.

Prior to the Duterte administration, the GAB limited its focus on regulating professional basketball, boxing, mixed martial arts, horse racing and cockfighting.

The government-run regulatory body for pro sports now added supervisory work on volleyball, football, chess, karate, billiards, bowling, women’s boxing, tennis, table tennis, wrestling and esports whose players and fighters earn a living while competing.

The players of the Premier Volleyball League, Philippine Football League, Professional Chess Association of the Philippines are required to secure GAB licenses as well as Filipino fighters in the ONE Championship, Universal Reality Combat Championship, Philippine Wrestling Revolution, Manila Wrestling Federation and Ultimate Muaythai Challenge Philippines.

“I think this is the golden age of Philippine sports, not to mention that we won our first-ever gold medal in the Olympics,’’ said Mitra.

The GAB was lauded this year by the WBC for its trailblazing efforts of initiating the installation of portable infrared CT scan machines on standby for boxers during fight cards.

The 161-country pro boxing organization likewise praised the GAB in 2017 when the agency began waiving the annual medical fees of all Filipino boxers in partnership with the Department of Health.