THE National Basketball League (NBL) Pilipinas intends to hold an 11-day bubble for the completion of its Season 3 Black Arrow Express-President’s Cup.
Under a 50-page comprehensive plan, the bubble will be the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga, where the eight playoff teams will be housed under strict health guidelines.
Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda, who also owns the province’s NBL-Pilipinas team Pampanga Delta, offered to host the bubble.
Under its stringent protocols, players and essential personnel of the eight teams will undergo Covid-19 tests and will be quarantined for 14 days. Only players aged 21 and above will be allowed to play in the bubble.
Before the teams enter the bubble, a slow but safe return to training and competition will be strictly enforced and monitored by the league.
NBL-Pilipinas Chairman Celso “Soy” Mercado said the league for homegrown talents is taking a proactive approach in the event that contact sports will be allowed to be played during the pandemic.
Mercado added that NBL-Pilipinas Commissioner John Edward Aquino and Executive Vice President Rhose Montreal reached out to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and other government agencies to present its bubble concept.
The defending champion Taguig Generals are one of the eight teams that are still in contention for the Season 3 title. The other teams in the proposed bubble are Pampanga Delta, La Union Paower, CamSur Express, inaugural season titlist Parañaque Aces, Nueva Ecija Bespren, Muntinlupa Emeralds and Pasig El Pirata.