TRAVEL RESTRICTION HALTS FIBA QUALIFIERS WHILE GILAS PROCEEDS TO QATAR
Bahrain’s hosting of the February window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers fell through after the country’s government imposed new travel restrictions this February.
Gilas Pilipinas, meanwhile left for Doha, Qatar yesterday, as it prepares to clinch a slot to the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup that will be held in Indonesia in August.
Manama, which was the site of the November bubble, won’t be hosting the games between Group C’s Guam and Hong Kong, Fiba announced.
Guam and Hong Kong were set to play each other on February 19 and 21.
“FIBA Regional Office Asia has confirmed that the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers games between Hong Kong and Guam scheduled to take place in Manama, Bahrain on February 19 and 21 have been postponed due to restrictions imposed by the Bahrain authorities,” wrote the sport’s governing body.
Group C’s other game between New Zealand and Australia will push through on February 20 in Cairns, Australia.
Qualifying games for Group D (Lebanon, Bahrain, India, and Iraq) and Group F (Kazakhstan, Jordan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka) are still posted on Fiba’s website scheduled on the same day as Guam and Hong Kong’s original play dates.
Guam and Hong Kong are at the bottom half of Group C holding 0-1 records with New Zealand at the top at 2-0 and Australia at second with a 1-1 slate.
Group C was originally set to play in Clark, Pampanga but the Philippine government imposed new travel restrictions to stop the spread of the new UK variant of COVID-1, prompting the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to cancel its hosting.
Fiba has yet to decide on the new schedule of Guam and Hong Kong’s games.
Gilas Pilipinas however will face uncertainty regarding the status of 19-year-old prodigy Kai Sotto, who arrived in the Philippines just as the country was placed under stricter—and longer—quarantine protocols to control the spread of a more dangerous variant of the new coronavirus.
The SBP is expected to sort out the Sotto issue soon.
The IATF requires a 14-day quarantine for those arriving from COVID-19 hotspots.
Gilas is scheduled to play on February 18 against Korea.#