PBA to present plans for Season 46 opening to IATF

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is getting closer to opening its Season 46 next month.

League commissioner Willie Marcial said that a letter of intent to open the Philippine Cup either in mid or late July has already been sent to the IATF yesterday with a response coming in the same day.

The letter also included how the PBA will use and improve on the blueprint it implemented in staging the 2020 Philippine Cup in a bubble setup in Clark, Pampanga.

He added that he is positive they would get the green light from the government agencies since they were able to prevent a spread of the virus in last year's unprecedented conference.

"We wrote a request to the IATF yesterday asking if they can allow us to open the season and they replied quickly and said they'd put us on their agenda," Marcial said in Filipino in an interview with GMA News Online.

"We're just waiting for their response when we can present the whole plan."

While waiting for the IATF nod, Marcial said teams are still encouraged to hold their scrimmages and training outside Metro Manila, which is still under general community quarantine (GCQ) with some restrictions.

As of now, the majority of the teams are having their face-to-face training in Batangas while Talk 'N Text and Meralco have decided to set up camp in Ilocos Norte.

NLEX is also up north in Clark.

"They are still in different provinces for their practices and until the government allows us to conduct training in Metro Manila, they should stay put there."

—JMB, GMA News