If things fall into place, Gilas Pilipinas’s stay in Jordan will be a little bit longer.
The Jordan Basketball Federation has offered to FIBA Asia to host the continental cup, originally slated to take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 17 to 29.
In a report by Al Ghad, FIBA has already sent a memo to the 19 nations competing in the Asia Cup about the current situation in Indonesia.
Indonesia has recently been called Asia’s new epicenter of COVID-19 cases. It has been averaging 44,826 cases over the past week.
Because of the surge in COVID-19 cases, Indonesia has been on lockdown.
FIBA has asked the federations if the more ideal scenario is postponing the Asia Cup to 2022. The JBF responded with a nay, saying that they are willing to host the event.
“We have confirmed our readiness to participate in the tournament through an official letter; and we have offered to host the tournament on Jordanian soil, especially since the decision to postpone means that we will be charged with a large expense bill, which will exacerbate our financial suffering,” said JBF president Muhammad Alyan.
Besides Gilas, Indonesia, and Jordan, already qualified for the tournament are Lebanon, Bahrain, Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Needing to go through the second round of qualifiers are Chinese-Taipei, Guam, India, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine.
Jordan will also host the 10th edition of the King Abdullah Cup next week.
