Players of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) who violate health protocols of the government will not only be given sanctions by the league itself but can also expect punishment from their mother clubs.
The league announced this new directive after the meeting that involved all the coaches and team managers of the PBA member squads.
While the health of the players is the chief concern, the league also believes that the players should set a good example to the rest of the people of this basketball-passionate country.
The issue came to be following the release of footage of Ginebra star Japeth Aguilar and incoming Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Wong participating in a scrimmage inside a training facility in San Juan last week.
The PBA came down with a heavy hand on the aforementioned players, fining them P20,000 each. They were also mandated to go through swab testing and a 14-day quarantine. They were also asked to render 30 hours of community service.
Players that will dare to break the same rules run the risk of incurring stiffer penalties.
The PBA has been allowed by the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to proceed with practices but only in batches of six — four players, a trainer and a health officer.
As far as the NLEX Road Warriors are concerned, they’re setting the bar even higher as the team has placed even stricter protocols for the players to follow once practice commences next week.
"Ang sa amin nga mas mahigpit pa. Puwede naman e, basta ang importante lang huwag nating babawasan yung standard ng PBA. Puwede mong dagdagan. We formulated this before pa tayo binigyan ng guidance ng PBA. (Our protocols are stricter. It’s allowed. What’s important is that we don’t subtract anything from the PBA protocols)," NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao was quoted as saying on the PBA website.
NLEX has already secured a training facility that the Road Warriors will exclusively use.
"Suwerte kami sa NLEX kasi yung venue namin sa FCL Building exclusive namin. We have a small weights room na exclusively for us, and then we have the gym itself na exclusively for us. At least for the meantime," said Guiao. (JNP)