SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) executive director Sonny Barrios confirmed on Friday the 2013 Fiba-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship will push through as scheduled on August 1 to 11 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Barrios said the SBP and organizing committee are sticking with the tournament's original dates despite requests from several predominantly Muslim countries to move the schedule that falls on the Ramadan.
This year’s holy month of Ramadan starts on July 9 and ends on August 7.
Barrios admitted several Muslim countries did request for a change of date, since the Fiba-Asia tilt coinciding with the observance of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, otherwise known as the `month of fasting.’
But SBP eventually decided against it since the MOA Arena will already be unavailable outside of the calendared dates.
“We really tried to accommodate the request, but MOA Arena management said everything has already been set and a change will disturb the schedule of events outside the games,” said Barrios in Friday’s SCOOP sa Kamayan session.
Barrios said SBP’s decision was respected by the requesting national federations.
The SBP official stressed the dates have already been set, with the first and second rounds of the elimination to be held from August 1 to 3 and August 5 to 7, respectively.
The playoffs begin with the quarterfinals on August 9, while the semifinals and finals will be on August 10 and 11.
Meanwhile, Barrios also announced the official logo of the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championship will be unveiled on Sunday during halftime of the second game between Barangay Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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