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Philippines to host February windows of FIBA World Cup Qualifiers under bubble format


The Philippines has been chosen to host the first and second windows of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Group A in February 2022.

In a statement on Wednesday, FIBA announced that the home-and-away format will be scrapped for Groups A and B and that a bubble format will be used instead.

The Philippines will serve as host of the Group A, where Gilas Pilipinas will meet archrival South Korea twice and New Zealand and India once each in the period of February.

Overall, the Philippines will host a total of eight games in Group A.

"With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic still raging on in some parts of Asia, the International Basketball Federation has decided to retain bubble setups for a couple of groups in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers," FIBA said.

Holding a bubble will be no stranger to the Philippines as the country also served as the host of the final window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Pampanga last June.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio welcomed the development, saying the local federation is thrilled to host the participating countries with their recent stint serving as the blueprint.

"FIBA gave the SBP a commendation for the way we hosted the ACQ window and this led to their decision to take us up on our offer to host again this coming February," Panlilio said.

"We'll be hosting four teams in total, down from the seven the last time, so we're confident that we could not only repeat what we accomplished but improve on it."

—Bea Micaller/MGP, GMA News

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