One of Gilas Pilipinas’ chief patrons was saddened with what the Australia Men’s National Basketball Team’s did to the floor of one of the country’s home courts.
Sunday afternoon, the Boomers literally ripped the stickers of Gilas’ sponsors – namely Chooks-to-Go, PLDT, and Smart – off of the parquet floor. The Australians’ staff cited that the decals were slippery and might have caused injuries to their players.
However, the stickers had already been approved by FIBA prior to the start of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Moreover, the same brand and quality of the stickers were used during Gilas’ home game against Chinese-Taipei at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and against Japan at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“Nakakalungkot,” said Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas. “They not only disrespected the world organizing basketball body but also our home soil.
“‘Yung Chinese-Taipei and Japan practiced and even played with those stickers on the floor. Nagreklamo ba sila?” added the sports patron.
Mascariñas, through his staff, could attest that when Gilas visited the Margaret Court Arena last February 22, the Filipinos were well-mannered.
“We sent over officials from our company to Australia during our away game against them. They could say na ang players natin were respectful to them and their officials,” recalled Mascariñas.
With this, Mascariñas is hoping that this will be resolved by FIBA’s officials come on Monday morning.
“I echo the sentiments of MVP [Manny V. Pangilinan] and Chot [Reyes]. What they did was very disrespectful.”
