Five Fil-Foreigns allowed per team under new PBA D-League rules
The PBA Commissioner’s Office, addressing the concerns of several quarters, has come up with new rules governing team composition in time for the sixth season of the PBA D-League.
Aligning itself with the rule in the PBA, D-League teams will now be allowed to sign up as many as five Fil-foreign players each. This is being done in the wake of inquiries from Fil-foreign players overseas who have expressed the intention to join the Rookie Draft next month.
“I don’t see anything wrong in allowing the Fil-foreign players to play in the D-League. As long as they have submitted all our requirements and they are certified to have Filipino lineage I think they have the right to play. It will be healthy for the league and it will spice up the level of competition,” said PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa.
When the PBA D-League opens shop on January 2016, a school-based team can only field in an import if he has a minimum of 10 varsity eligible players. However, Narvasa pointed out that an import varsity player cannot be replaced at any given time during the course of the conference.
If a school-based D-League team does not have an import, it may play with a minimum of six varsity eligible players. Once the school-based team starts the conference without an import, it may not change its status and field an import for the duration of the conference.
“We discourage school-based teams from changing their status during the course of a conference to ensure an even playing field,” said Narvasa, adding only players from 17 to 30 years old are eligible to play in the D-League.
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