THE Asean Basketball League (ABL) is likely to fold after 14 years of being the premier regional professional basketball league of Southeast Asia.
The Singapore Slingers, one of the founding members of the league, made the announcement on its social media account, saying that the ABL is “unlikely to play in the foreseeable future.”
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The ABL was forced to halt its 2019-2020 season during the COVID pandemic before returning in early 2023 with the Zamboanga Valientes representing the Philippines and Hong Kong Eastern emerging as champion.
The Slingers said the ABL was unable to reach an agreement with Fiba for the staging of the league in the future.
“It is with a heavy heart and great disappointment that the Singapore Slingers ownership announce that the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is unlikely to play for the foreseeable future,” said the Slingers.
“After 11 seasons and millions of dollars spent building a strong brand and lifting the standard of regional basketball, the ABL was informed by FIBA that the league does not fit into FIBA’s future plans for basketball in the region. FIBA will be selective of which leagues it would support and allow moving forward. FIBA’s clear instructions to the regional basketball federations essentially denied the ABL a viable future.”
“The ABL has spent the past two years trying to find a compromise with FIBA without success,” the team added.
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The ABL began its first season on October 1, 2009 in an effort to bring professional basketball to Southeast Asia.
The Philippine Patriots, owned by businessman and now Rep. Mikee Romeo and coached by Louie Alas, became the inaugural champion of the league when they beat Satria Muda Britama during the 2009-2010 season.
Since then, two more Philippine teams captured the ABL crown.
The San Miguel Beermen, led by Asi Taulava with Leo Austria as coach, bagged the 2013 crown at the expense of the Indonesia Warriors.
The San Miguel Alab Pilipinas also took the championship during the 2017-2018 season on a team backstopped by Justin Brownlee, Renaldo Balkman, Bobby Ray Parks, and head coach Jimmy Alapag
A few PBA players led by seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo (San Miguel), Matthew Wright (KL Dragons) and Stanley Pringle (Indonesia) once suited up in the ABL, while others such as Paul Zamar (Mono Vampire) took the ABL route on their way to the PBA.
Most pundits also credit the ABL for developing basketball in the Southeast Asia, and closing the gap between the Philippines and other countries in the region such as Thailand and Indonesia.
With the impending shutdown of the ABL, the Singapore Slingers said it will explore other avenues to continue to develop the country’s basketball players.
The Slingers also thanked their fans for their support over the past 17 years dating back to when it was founded as an NBL Australia team.
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