The Philippine Basketball Association welcomes the move to get involved in a super tournament that is set to start next year.
The PBA will be one of the top leagues in the East Asian region, which will join and send teams in a cagefest that will be organized by the East Asia Super League.
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.
“Maganda ito. We are in good terms with the organizers of this tournament,” said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
Marcial said he will meet with the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas on the super tournament and discuss matter with the PBA board on this new development.
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, 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.
“EASL is thrilled to receive FIBA’s support for the launch of our league. With top teams from the Greater China region, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, we are confident it will become one of the top professional basketball competitions in the world by 2025,” said EASL CEO Matt Beyer.
Marcial said their ties with the EASL was made possible when they joined The Terrific 12 tournament held in Macao in September 2019.