PBA suspends 2021 Philippine Cup

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is temporarily suspending its Philippine Cup games starting August 4 – Wednesday in support of the government’s directive in addressing the unwanted rise of COVID-19 Delta variant infections, and its announcement of placing the National Capital Region (NCR) under GCQ with heightened and additional restrictions from July 30 to August 5.

The league is waiting for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF EID) decision regarding its request to temporarily transfer and continue its games in Lipa, Batangas as NCR will be under ECQ, the strictest quarantine status, from August 6 to 20.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial disclosed on Saturday that the league has already submitted a letter to the Department of Health last week.

“We wrote a letter to the DOH for a request to play outside NCR if the restrictions won’t allow us to play within Metro Manila. We cited Lipa, Batangas as the location, and a new court will be prepared for us,” said Marcial during an interview with ESPN5.

“We’re also talking to Lipa officials, and we asked if we could play under a closed-circuit format. We’re just waiting for an answer,” he added.