RP officials fear SEABA may also be scrapped

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, denied of a sure gold medal in SEA Games basketball, might also lose the opportunity to defend its crown in the SEABA men’s basketball championship.

Basketball officials say there is a strong possibility that the SEABA championship will also be scrapped with the event still without a host 32 days before its supposed opening on April 2.

Another possibility is for the tournament, originally set April 2-6, being moved to another date - a scenario that could cause conflict in the schedule of the PBA-backed RP team and the program of the PBA itself.

“Up to now, we’ve yet to get advisory from SEABA. Under the new FIBA statutes, national federations should be advised of an official tournament schedule 30 days before the opening. The federations are to give their initial roster which they will finalize two weeks before opening day,” said PBA operations and technical chief Rickie Santos.

“If this FIBA rule is to be followed, it’s doubtful the tournament will be held in its original schedule,” Santos said.

Apparently, the SEABA men’s championship hosting was offered to Indonesia which instead opted to get the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup slated May 12-20.

Indonesia won the last SEABA Champions Cup, beating the RP Harbour Centre team in the finale. Sam Ekwe was supposed to play as the RP import then, but the San Beda player was barred from playing in the absence of a FIBA clearance.

Coach Yeng Guiao and his team are now deep in preparation for the SEABA men’s championship which serves as the qualifier for the FIBA-Asia men’s championship set Aug. 6-16 in Tianjin, China. – Nelson Beltran