MANILA – The staging of Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League’s (MPBL) Mumbaki Cup will be delayed to June 2021 due to damages brought by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes announced to all participating teams late Monday through a memorandum that the competition set for 2020 to 2021 will be moved to 2021-2022.
Duremdes, however, said that the league plans to hold “a protracted preseason tournament where teams can join optionally” in preparation for the 2021-2022 season.
The retired PBA cager added that “no leave of absences would be allowed during the next staging of MPBL” following reports that some teams have expressed their intentions to do so.
All teams are also “advised to give allowances of at least 20-percent [of their monthly salaries] to its current players under contract,” the memo read.
While they decided to move the opening of the Mumbaki Cup, Duremdes insisted that the stalled Lakan Cup playoffs round will still push through “once contact sports are allowed.”
The Lakan Cup was already in the division finals when the league decided to halt the matches due to the growing cases of COVID-19.
The games affected were between San Juan Knights-Go for Gold and Makati Super Crunch in the North Division and between Davao Occidental Tigers-Cocolife and Basilan Steel-Jumbo Plastic in the South.
These teams’ showdowns will likely be held behind closed doors of a venue only once there is green light to resume.
“All these remaining games shall be held in one venue with no audience and players for the teams involved. Officials shall also be quarantined in one facility throughout the series,” Duremdes said./PN
