Korea withdraws from FIBA Asia November qualifiers due to COVID-19 concerns

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Korea will not fly to Bahrain and compete in the FIBA Asia November qualifiers window after ongoing concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With different countries still battling COVID-19, Korea chose to stay safe and not put their players at risk according to the Korea Basketball Association (KBA).

Before FIBA paused last March, Korea was the leader of Group A with an undefeated 2-0 record and was scheduled to take on Gilas Pilipinas and Indonesia on November 28 and 30 respectively.

However, in a report by News Naver’s Min Joon Gu, one official of the federation said, “Considering the health of the national team, I thought it was right not to go to Bahrain.”

Led by former PBA import Ricardo Ratliffe now known as Ra Gun A, Korea will be taking a step back and chose to protect their national team from the contracting the disease.

Meanwhile, Gilas Pilipinas has one month left before kickoff of the qualifiers but their letter from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases is still pending approval.

Several collegiate superstars already hinted on their Gilas stint this November window but the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is yet to announce the final roster.