THERE will be fewer jobless former professional basketball players in the country this year after the Maharlika Professional Basketball League (MPBL) tossed its old rule of limited participation and allowed each team to hire as many ex-pros as they want for MPBL's 2024 season starting March 16.
Last year, the rule was each of the 29 teams was allowed to have only seven pros. Now they can have as many as 22 players in their lineups. The only prohibitions are that only 15 can play each game and there should be at least three homegrown players in the roster.
READ DoJ files raps against 17 in MPBL game-fixing case
The league founded by Manny Pacquiao also said it has banned 47 players and team officials 'reported to be involved in game-fixing,' which has been a major problem for the league and its growing membership over the years.
The league has yet to release a list of the banned personnel.
In 2019, Pacquiao and Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes announced the filing of game-fixing charges against 21 persons, including the owner of a Soccsksargen Marlins side that lost 18 straight games, as well as a 'Chinese mastermind.'
Two years later, the Department of Justice (DoJ) recommended the filing of criminal charges against 17 players and personnel accused of multiple counts of game-fixing during the Soccsksargen Marlins' campaign in the league.
There has been no word about the case since.
In last year's tournament won by the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, Duremdes told SPIN.ph the Commissioner's Office drew up a list of names involved in 'suspicous matches' which it updated over the course of the season.
Also on Tuesday, the MPBL announced that players from collegiate leagues like the UAAP and the NCAA can now play in its games provided they have SGL (Special Guest Licenses) from the Games and Amusements Board.
Pacquiao said the lifting of the cap on professional players was made after a meeting among team owners of the regional cage league recently.
Duremdes also announced that the league has accepted Pangasinan and Abra as its newest franchises. A pre-season tournament in GenSan from Feb. 20-27 will also be held in conjunction with the city's Kalinangan Festival.
League officials said last year's tournament, won by the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, saw the MPBL post a record reach of 35.5 million, gain nearly 33 million visits, notch 6 million content interactions, and register over a million followers on its Facebook page.
Apart from Pacquiao and Duremdes, also present during the team owners' meeting held at Conrad Hotel were executive officer Joe Ramos and operations head Emmer Oreta.
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