Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) – Gilas Pilipinas will continue their FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers campaign next month in Doha, Qatar.
The FIBA Regional Office Asia tapped on Thursday the Middle Eastern city as new host of the tournament’s third window.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas on Tuesday canceled the Philippines’ hosting of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers games due to travel restrictions in light of new COVID-19 variants. The Philippines was scheduled to host the games of groups A and C.
SBP President Al Panlilio expressed his gratitude to FIBA and the Qatar Basketball Federation for making sure the games will push through.
“The games will be played within the same time frame but we’ll be communicating with the Qatar Basketball Federation for the final schedule as there might be necessary adjustments since they are now hosting 12 teams from the original four,” Panlilio said in a statement.
Qatar was originally assigned to only host Group E third window games to include Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
It will also host games of Group B, which consists of Japan, China, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei. The previous host, Japan, also backed out because of pandemic restrictions.
Gilas Pilipinas currently leads and holds a 3-0 record in Group A and only needs one more win to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup. In the third window, Gilas is expected to battle South Korea twice and Indonesia once.
