By JONAS TERRADO
The PBA said it will postpone this week’s Governors’ Cup games at the Smart Araneta Coliseum due to the huge rise of COVID-19 cases following the holiday season.
Games slated Wednesday (Jan. 5) till Sunday (Jan. 9) were called off as the league needs the green light from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) and the Local Government Units.
Metro Manila was placed under Alert Level 3, which only permits the PBA to hold a bubble setup.
But the league, through its Commissioner Willie Marcial, is hoping that it can be allowed to still implement a home-venue-home setup, although it has made contingency plans to ensure that the games can continue in the near future.
Cases rose to a one-day count of 4,000 on Jan. 2 even as the Department of Health confirmed the local transmission of the Omicron variant.
“The league has already sent a letter to GAB on Monday and hopes to get a reply within a few days,” the PBA said in a statement.
“Besides the GAB, the PBA also needs the approval of Local Government Units (LGUs) allowing it to hold the games.
“Should the GAB allow the PBA to go ahead, a nod from the LGUs is still needed before it could conduct the games,” the league added.
This week would have been the resumption of the season-ending tournament after the New Year break.
The postponed games were Magnolia Pambansang Manok-Blackwater and Meralco-Alaska on Jan. 5, TNT-NorthPort and NLEX-Rain or Shine on Jan. 6 and Ginebra-Blackwater along with Meralco-Magnolia on Jan. 7
Also put on hold are Alaska-Terrafirma and Phoenix Super LPG-San Miguel Beer on Jan. 8 plus Meralco-NorthPort and TNT-Magnolia on Jan. 9.
