Vargas supports SBP’s move to pull Gilas out of Asiad

NASUGBU, Batangas –Philippine Olympic Committe (POC) president Ricky Vargas said on Friday that he will support the decision of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to withdraw the participation of Gilas Pilipinas in the Asian Games.

“I will support the decision of the SBP,” Vargas said.

On Thursday night, barely an hour before the clock struck midnight, the SBP announced its decision to not anymore field in a men’s basketball team to Jakarta for the quadrennial meet next month.

Vargas, who is also the chairman of the board of governors of the Philippine Basketball Association ,or PBA, where most of the players who were supposed to be called up for national team duty are playing, expressed that he understood the SBP’s decision to do such a move that did not sit well for most of the fans who were still awake when the news broke out.

“It’s complex and difficult sa kanila to make that decision, but we should take it for what it is,” he further said. “The complexity is understanding more than what they’re saying.

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The supposed Gilas participation plan was to call up seven players from Rain Or Shine to make up the team’s core to be backstopped by some more PBA stars and some Gilas cadets.

The said club league will come up with its own statement later Friday, just before the start of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals between San Miguel and Ginebra.

With no women’s 5-on-5 and 3×3 teams to be sent in the Asiad as well, the Philippines, known for its rich basketball tradition, will not be participating at all in the said sports event’s basketball tournaments.