PBA wants concrete pact with SBP
TOKYO– The PBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas would have to come up with a mutually acceptable plan for future national teams involving the league’s players.
Both league chairman Robert Non and new president and CEO Chito Salud said the veritable summit is a must so that all the concerned parties would have a more united stand when it comes to dealing with future international tourneys coinciding with the PBA season.
“We want a long term formula for the constitution, formation and supervision of the national team,” said Salud. “We want crystal clear terms of engagement, which all stakeholders could agree to.”
Said conference should be held within the year, added Salud, so that all the stakeholders would have ample time to prepare for the recent changes in the FIBA calendar regarding qualifying tournaments for the World Cup and Olympics.
Under the new format, some of the FIBA qualifiers or windows would be played out on November, February and June of each year starting in 2017, dates which are right smack in the thick of the PBA season that starts October and ends in July.
The PBA, which has been lending its players to national teams since the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, is also set to provide the makeup of squads for the Asian Games.
Salud said such changes and their resulting effects in the league necessitate the meeting with the SBP in the quickest possible time.
“We need to sit down with SBP as soon as possible,” said Salud. “It looks like it’s going to be on a quarterly basis and that means quarterly disruptions of the league.
“We need to find out from our team owners, our stakeholders, how to address this situation and how to look and move forward.”
Salud also pointed out that there have been precedents that the parties could take a cue from, like the SBP forming a national pool, which could be nurtured and further strengthened from time to time by the PBA. All the while, the pro teams would not touch, meaning draft, the amateur players from said pool.
“There have been solutions that worked in the past (like the Northern Cement team which played in the PBA and became champion as a guest team, and Gilas 1.0),” stated Salud.
“We need to revisit those measures,” added Salud. “If they prove unacceptable to the stakeholders today or at least modified versions of those arrangements then we need to come up with a new one.”
For his part, Non said a more permanent agreement should be forged among the stakeholders, primarily between the SBP and PBA, to avoid future friction. “Kailangan talagang gawan ng konkretong kontrata,” he offered.
“As soon as possible iyan. I think within the year kailangan ayos na iyan.”
One thing for sure, such a formal agreement is a must in order to help avoid the public perception that some team owners are reluctant to lend their players to the national team.
“The PBA remains open to helping, but we need to have all the facts before us before the PBA, particularly the team owners, get on board.
“What’s the new set-up, format for qualifying and how the PBA can help in a manner that would be the least harmful to the league. But the desire and willingness to help is there.” (NC)
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