PBA Governor’s Cup returns on February 11

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will finally resume its halted Governor’s Cup conference this coming February 11, 2022.

PBA’s temporary suspension came after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) placed Metro Manila under COVID-19 Alert Level 3 due to the rising number of cases in January.

However, due to the number of recoveries in the Metro, the IATF reverted Manila to Alert Level 2 where contact sports are allowed to operate given a 70 % maximum capacity for outdoor venues and 50 % maximum capacity indoors.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial revealed their latest development since allowing the teams to conduct their series of training and scrimmages.

Aside from the go signal from the IATF, the PBA also worked hand-in-hand with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

“We had six LGUs which have jurisdiction of where teams hold their practices, but we’ve already talked to them, thanks in particular to MMDA and GAB for helping us,” said Marcial.

Despite the return of the games, Marcial and the PBA board earlier explained that the entry of fans is still not allowed as of the moment.

“Fans have become a big factor for us and the players missed them so much. But we have to observe the first few weeks if the cases will continue to go down, then we will gradually allow them back at the games,” added Marcial.

Before the Governor’s Cup was stopped, the Magnolia Hotshots were leading the league with three wins, no losses followed by the Meralco Bolts with two wins and no losses.