The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has postponed all scheduled games this week until it hears from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB).
In an announcement Monday, the league said that it has sent a letter to the regulatory body and hopes to get a reply within a few days. Meanwhile, fingers remain crossed that it can resume the Governors’ Cup amidst the present situation.
Metro Manila is under Alert Level 3 from January 3-16 due to the spike in coronavirus cases, alongside the risk imposed by the Omicron variant.
The approval of local government units (LGUs) are necessary as well, the league added. Should GAB allow the PBA to continue, the go-signal of the LGUs are still necessary before it could conduct games.
The Governors’ Cup was scheduled to continue this January 5 at the SMART Araneta Coliseu. There would be a double-header affair featuring Magnolia and Blackwater, followed by Meralco and Alaska.
Supposed to highlight the first week of 2022 action was the Philippine Cup Finals rematch between TNT and the Hotshots on January 9.
Now, all of those will have to wait following the league’s decision to pause play due to the circumstances brought about again by the virus.
The league was actually enjoying some sense of normalcy in the season-ending tilt following its return to the Big Dome with fans in attendance. But given the situation, it is facing the possibility of playing in empty venues once more.
Before the latest surge of COVID-19 cases, the PBA has already been allowed a 50-percent capacity crowd in Araneta.
Its Christmas Day special that featured games between NLEX and Phoenix Super LPG and Magnolia versus Ginebra drew a crowd of 4,843.
