The 46th season of the Philippine Basketball Association will not be played under a bubble type of setup.
League executives found the arrangement too expensive when it was held late last year in Angeles, Pampanga.
The coming games of the PBA this year will last four 10 months, and will have two conferences in Metro Manila.
PBA chairman Ricky Vargas said this is what they will be looking forward to this year when the season officially starts on April 11 with the four-month Philippine Cup.
“What we want is a non-bubble (type of setup). If it’s a bubble, it would be too expensive for the PBA to do,” said Vargas.
Vargas said he and commissioner Marcial have already drafted a letter to the Interagency Task Force for the Management for Emerging Infectious Diseases for them to be allowed to play the games of the PBA under a face-to-face setup.
Last year, the PBA held only one conference and first had to make teams train under a bubble in Calamba, Laguna, before games were held at the Angeles University Foundation while in isolation.
With the vaccines for COVID-19 already available, staging games in a more open setting is now the more acceptable arrangement for the PBA.
On the other hand, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will have to form an all-cadets team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.
SBP president Al Panlilio said that no PBA players will be sent in the tournament because the schedule of the games in league runs counter with that of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and in the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
The FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers are slated from June 14 to 20 in the Philippines, while the OQT in Belgrade is set from June 29 to July 4.
