The Philippine Basketball Association will be among the top leagues in the East Asian region, which will be involved in a super tournament set to start next year.
The PBA's involvement was revealed following an announcement made by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on Thursday.
The FIBA entered into a 10-year deal with the East Asia Super League, which will feature elite club teams coming from professional clubs from many countries in the region.
The EASL has been given recognition and support to run an annual league. It is set to launch its new premium competition in October, 2021.
The staging of the EASL comes a month after the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, which is considered as the continent’s premier club competition taking place annually in September.
Aside from the Philippines, the other club teams will come from the Greater China region, Japan and Korea.
“The recognition of the East Asia Super League is based on a shown commitment to developing basketball in the region, and is in line with FIBA’s club competition strategy that is to shape international club competitions,” said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis in an online statement.
The first two editions of the EASL are in 2021 and 2022, and will match up the region’s top eight teams in a home-and-away group stage.
It will culminate with a Final Four in February to determine the champion, runner-up and third-place finishers.
EASL plans to expand the competition to 16 teams by 2023.