Mall of Asia (MoA) Arena is set to host the 5x5 basketball events of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, after all.
Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee(Phisgoc) chief operating
officer Ramon Suzara yesterday said the event is moving back to the
cavernous venue following an outburst from many quarters, including the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
During a press briefing yesterday, Suzara said they have reached an agreement with the management of SM, which bumped off some events to accommodate the sport headed by the group of industrialist Manny Pangilinan.
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“After a lot of meetings, discussions and telephone calls, finally, we have this venue. I’m sure everyone is happy,” Suzara said.
Initially, the 15,000-seater arena was considered to host basketball events.
But the Phisgoc suddenly decided to move the high-profile sport to the smaller Filoil Flying
V Centre, a move that drew howls from stakeholders, including the leadership of the SBP.
SBP president Al Panlilio said the 5,500-seater Filoil Flying V Centre is too small to accommodate the games of Team Pilipinas, which will be composed of professional players from the Philippine Basketball Association.
Panlilio sought the help of Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas, who served as founding chairman of the federation.
He reportedly met with Suzara and Vargas in Hong Kong over the weekend to map out a strategy on how to bring basketball events to MoA Arena.
Fortunatelyforthem,theyfound a “win-win solution” as SM Lifestyle chief operating officer Herman Medina-Cue freed up the 1 to 10 December dates to accommodate the basketball events.
“There were a lot of complications because of advance bookings and reservations that we had to work out with different entities to make the schedule available,” Medina-Cue said.
Aside from basketball, MoA Arena will also host events in ice skating, speed skating and ice hockey.
Meanwhile, 3x3 basketball will still be held at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
