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ALTHOUGH
the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has agreed
to support the men’s national team anew, the Basketball
Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng
Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) wants to clarify with the pro league
just how it will support the RP five.
In
particular, the conditions set by the PBA with regard to
the national team’s management and sponsorship need some
threshing out, BAP-SBP executive director Noli Eala said
Tuesday.
“The
conditions set by the league could have consequences in
the end, so we need to sit down again,” Eala, the former
PBA commissioner, told the BusinessMirror. “But we are
grateful to the PBA for responding immediately to the
call of the national team.”
The
present PBA chief, Renauld “Sonny” Barrios, said Sunday
that the league board has agreed to lend players to the
national team for the 2009 International Basketball
Federation (Fiba) World Championship qualifier in China,
but it also wanted BAP-SBP to look for funding for the
team.
That’s
why Eala wrote Barrios to request for another meeting
that would clarify the issues after the league also
decided to support the country’s bid for the 2010 Fiba
World Championship in Turkey.
Eala was
concerned with the PBA’s condition for the SBP to look
for corporate sponsors that will finance the training of
the national team.
“What if
we don’t have enough budget, and the national team, the
players and the coaches, which they will supply, have
other plans in their trainings? How do we merge those
things?” said Eala.
The pro
league also wanted the BAP-SBP to look for a sponsor
first within the PBA’s corporate members.
“I think
the PBA is in a better position para gawin ’yun.
Bakit kailangan kami pa ang makipag-usap?” Eala
added. “But the assurance here is we will do everything
to be able to have a best representation possible in
international tournaments.”
Eala
stressed that his request for a meeting is to seek
clarification, not to engage in a debate with the pro
league.
The PBA
had been shouldering the funds of the national teams in
the past international competitions it’s been involved
with. The last team, with Chot Reyes at the helm of the
country’s bid for a slot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics,
reportedly cost the PBA around P40 million.
The
board, in its meeting last Monday at the PBA office,
wanted to make sure that it won’t carry the financial
burden of forming the national team, and asked the SBP
to look for resources this time around. |
