PBA teams start the new year with practices in small groups as the pro league deals with the more stringent quarantine restrictions after a big spike in the number of Covid-19 cases during the holiday break.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said ballclubs have been advised to call off full practices while the league plots its next course of action after the government put the National Capital Region (NCR) back to Alert Level 3 beginning on Monday.
Alert Level 3 will be up in Metro Manila from January 3 to 15.
Bubble specter
That means teams will be back practicing in groups of five on Monday just like in the middle of the hard lockdowns last year as the specter of the PBA returning to a bubble tournament looms large in the horizon.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Emergence of Infectious Diseases has released a statement that contact sports will not be allowed under Alert Level 3, except for pro tournaments held under a bubble set-up.
Marcial, however, remains confident that the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup eliminations, which is set to resume on Wednesday, can still be mounted under the same home-gym-home set-up, likely without fans in the stands.
"Remember, yung Alert Level 3 is equivalent to the GCQ (general community quarantine) natin last year, na pinayagan tayong maglaro sa Ynares (Arena in Pasig City) under a closed-circuit system," said Marcial.
Marcial said he has already written both the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the local government units to gain a clearer picture on the matter.
"Mas malalaman natin by Monday when government offices open," Marcia said.
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.
