Officials from the Samahang Basketbol Pilipinas gracefully accepted the sanctions and penalties imposed by the International Basketball Federation with regards to the brawl that happenede between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australia Boomers last July 2 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
In a press conference that was held at PLDT’s main office in Makati, SBP president Al Panlilio, executive director Sonny Barrios, lawyer Aga Francisco, and official Butch Antonio were unison in accepting and explaining the punishment imposed on the federation and the national team.
“SBP accepts the disciplinary panel’s decision,” Panlilio said on behalf of the SBP.
According to the officials, the suspensions imposed on 10 Gilas players and two coaches will only cover the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. With this, Calvin Abueva will miss the entire second window.
“It’s just for the World Cup Qualifier games, so the PBA is not affected. It’s practically the next three windows of the second round where we play in Iran, Qatar and Kazakhstan, the home and away games,” added Panlilio.
Moreover, Gilas will also be forced to play their home game against Qatar on September 17 behind closed doors.
However, the SBP is still shedding light on the three-year probationary period Gilas will be put in.
“As I mentioned here, there are certain facts that we want to clarify further, make sure that we are in the same page as FIBA,” Panlilio shared. “We did have our position paper submitted to them last July 13, wejust want to make sure they considered those points and we’re ont he same page.
“From there, we’ll assess whether we’ll proceed on the formal appeal.”
