CANCELLED FIBA HOST CLARK QUALIFIER MOVED TO QATAR
Fiba announced late Thursday night that Doha will be the bubble city for three groups in the final window of qualifiers after the Philippines cancelled its hosting of the Groups A and C qualifiers due to an existing travel ban.
Doha, Qatar will serve as host for Gilas Pilipinas and the rest of Group A in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
Clark was set to stage the games featuring Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and host Philippines until the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) decided to scrap those plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That means Gilas will fly to Doha to take on Korea on Feb. 18 and 22 and Indonesia on Feb. 20, needing only one victory to qualify for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup which will be held in Indonesia from August 16 to 28.
Aside from Group A, also set to play in the Doha bubble are teams from Group B in China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia, and Group E in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and hosts Qatar. Gilas has not broken camp despite the cancellation of the Clark hosting of the Group A qualifiers, continuing training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna for the third week now.
That should give the national team almost two months of build-up for the final window of the qualifiers, where it will be joined by teen prodigy Kai Sotto.