Gilas-Qatar Game to Be Played Behind Closed Doors

Gilas will have to host a game with Qatar sans spectators.

Aside from the suspensions slapped on 10 Gilas players and Coaches Chot Reyes and Jong Uichico, FIBA also ruled that the Philippines’ next home game, the Sept. 17 showdown against Qatar, will be held behind closed doors.

“Philippines’ national federation, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Inc (SBP), is sanctioned for the unsportsmanlike behavior of its delegation members and of its public, as well as for insufficient organization of the game,” FIBA explained in the statement announcing the sanctions slapped to both Gilas and Australia for their July 2 brawl on Thursday.

An additional clause in the penalty is that “a ban for two more home games has been placed under a probationary period of 3 years.”

Sought for clarification during a press conference called by SBP at the Ramon Cojuangco Building of PLDT in Makati an hour after the verdict was made public, SBP’s executive director, Sonny Barrios, said, “Lumaro ka sa Qatar. Closed-door ka. Lumaro ka sa home game ng Kazakhstan, open. Nagkagulo. So yung susunod mo, closed-door ka na uli.”

FIBA will closely monitor the Nov. 30 game between Gilas and Kazakhstan, and if another case of unruly behavior ensues, the Dec. 3 game against Iran will be a closed-door game. The monitoring will continue until 2021.

“Ang idasal natin: Sana wala nang gulo para wala nang behind closed doors kundi Qatar,” Barrios said. (PNA)