Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has reached nearly 80 percent of its goal of having its personnel receive booster shots, adding a layer of protection as it moves closer to the resumption of the season-ending Governors’ Cup.
Of around 700 people making up the core of the PBA community, only around 150 are still without booster shots for COVID-19, with the league hoping to wipe out that deficit by the end of the month.
This, the PBA hopes, will get its teams the green light to resume scrimmages in Metro Manila, taking the league a step closer to resumption of play.
Commissioner Willie Marcial met with the board on Monday and the group came up with the decision to see the Governors’ Cup to its finish regardless of any further delay. The PBA also decided that teams will keep its imports even if the current suspension of play drags on, ensuring that the season-ending tournament will not finish as an all-Filipino event.
Seeking MMDA go
Marcial is set to meet with Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Benhur Abalos to discuss health protocols and get the thumbs-up for all 12 teams to return to practice.
The league will need a buffer time to get scrimmages for its teams before it can set a reopening date and having 100 percent of its population jabbed with booster vaccines is a step in that direction. The PBA is eyeing a resumption of play by the second week of February.
“We would need at least 10 days of scrimmages for all the teams. If we get the permit for that, then resumption is a go,” Marcial said.
After the conference was shuttered last Jan. 3 with alert level 3 imposed on the Metro, teams were forced to practice in small groups of seven that counted coaches and utility personnel and just four players at a time.
Magnolia and Meralco were the only teams left undefeated before the forced break, with the Hotshots winning their first three and the Bolts looking to join them before play was called.