FIBA, SBP to Use PBA Bubble Settings for February Asia Cup Qualifiers Window

Not only has International Basketball Federation (FIBA) granted Clark the rights to host a bubble for the February 2021 window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, it will also use the same blueprint that the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) used for successfully holding the 2020 Philippine Cup that lasted for two and a half months.

The success of the PBA Clark bubble is something that FIBA, along with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) will try to repeat for the February window with SBP President Al Panlilio saying that teams, members of the media, and league personnel will stay at Quest Hotel and that, games will be held at Angeles University Foundation (AUF)- with a few tweaks since this is an international competition. 

One major tweak which SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios called as big improvement from the Bahrain bubble is, "We’ll have a dedicated meeting room, changing room, and viewing room for each of the eight teams meaning they won’t have to wait for a room to be vacated because we’ll have one dedicated room per team,"

Clark will play host to two groups for the February window. Group A which Gilas Pilipinas is included, also includes Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia while Group C has Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and Hong Kong. Gilas Pilipinas is set to play against Korea twice and one game against Indonesia.  

The Philippines, still unbeaten in three games in the Asia Cup qualifiers, only needs one more win to clinch a seat in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup.

Photo is from FIBA