THE Office of President has declared the holding of the Filbasket tournament in Subic Bay late last year as unlawful, Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Baham Mitra said on Friday.
Because of the decision, the GAB warned the league is barred from staging a similar tournament in the future unless it is held under the supervision of the agency tasked to regulate pro sports in the country.
Mitra on Friday night released the resolution issued by the Office of the President on the bubble tournament that Filbasket staged from Oct. 25 to Nov. 24.
“Filbasket’s previous defiance was ill-advised as the rules on this matter are already well-established,” said Mitra. “GAB’s advice to organizers is to comply with the law and GAB will always be there to assist in any way it can within the bounds of its mandate.”
Letter of appeal
GAB already labeled Filbasket as a professional tournament since players received salaries from the 11 participating teams, prompting Mitra and his board to issue a cease and desist order against the league for alleged violation of Presidential Decree 871, or the law placing pro basketball under GAB supervision.
Filbasket later wrote a Letter of Appeal to the Office of the President, but later withdrew it at the conclusion of the one-month tournament which AICC Manila ruled at the expense of San Juan in the finals.
“The Office of the President declared their appeal as deemed withdrawn. So the case is closed there,” Mitra stressed.
“But even if Filbasket withdrew its appeal, any similar violation of PD 871 by Filbasket or other pro leagues, will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
No sanction has been meted on the league, but an outright cease and desist order will be served on Filbasket once it holds another tournament.
“We will continue monitoring them and other similar situations to prevent violation of the law governing professional sports in the Philippines,” added the GAB chairman.
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