KIEFER Ravena was picked as one of the two Gilas Pilipinas players for the random drug testing just before the 2019 Fiba World Cup in China begins on Saturday.
Sources privy to the situation bared that Ravena and center June Mar Fajardo were selected from the Philippines' 12-man roster to be tested two days before the games commence.
The 25-year-old playmaker did confirm the news, making light of the situation.
"It's really funny but at the same time, completely understandable," he shared.
It's quite a twist for Ravena, who is coming off of a Fiba-imposed 18-month suspension for testing positive for banned substances ingested from the pre-workout drink Dust and will be part of Team Philippines for the global basketball showpiece.
But unlike the previous time where he was tested in the Asian qualifiers game against Japan last year, the NLEX court general is confident that there will be no traces of any banned substances in his samples this time out.
"Sigurado ako. Sure na sure yan," he said emphatically.
Fiba and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will conduct more random drug tests throughout the course of the tournament in China.
Gilas Pilipinas is preparing for its first assignment in Group D against Italy, set on Saturday at Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
