WITH the green light from the government for the PBA's gradual return-to-training set-up, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial is convening coaches and team managers in a meeting Friday to lay down the guidelines and protocols for the eventual training restart.
Marcial will present the parameters approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force, ruling out scrimmages which are not part of the proposed program the league itself raised for approval by the government body.
Nonetheless, the PBA is thankful enough to the IATF for its nod on the league's plan which hopefully leads all the way to the PBA restart by October.
The PBA board of governors will make the final decision on whether to resume the season or scrap it in a key meeting in August.
"Nagpapasalamat muna ako sa government, sa Task Force na binigiyan tayo ng pagkakataon mag-practice. Malaking bagay yun," said Marcial on TV5's show Sports Page Monday night.
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"Ang first step, coaches meeting kami and team managers meeting sa Friday para kausapin sila regarding the protocols, comments, suggestions at kung ano pa madadagdag nila. And then magpapatawag kami ng governors board meeting, maybe Saturday through Monday, na malalaman namin through chairman Ricky Vargas," Marcial also said. "After nun, mga five to seven days mag-sisimula na tayo ng practice."
But it's limited to non-scrimmage training restart by batches of six individuals.
And Marcial said personnel of the 12 teams are required to undergo COVID-19 testing and submit the results three days before the practice restart.
For the ball clubs, the requirement is to have all the players signed to live contracts once the training rolls on.
"Ang mahalaga, pag start natin, pagpalagay mo ng July 22, kailangan umandar na kasi yung kontrata, kailangan mag-renew ka ng contract (ng players) within five days," he explained.(SB)
