RP, 5 others form "1st Asean Basketball League"

The Philippines will take part in the 1st Asean Basketball League — a home-and-away tournament to be launched in October with at least six nations participating each putting up a professional basketball team.

The Philippine participation will be organized by Mikee Romero, owner of the Harbour Centre and Oracle Residences basketball teams which have won seven straight Philippine Basketball League titles.

He will be joining forces with ABC-5 owner Tony Boy Cojuangco in forming the Philippine club team.

“This is just an initial step, we hope to expand the league in the near future,” Romero said during yesterday’s SCOOP sa Kamayan. “The tournament will not only give new home to our players but will also provide entertainment to Filipinos working in other parts of the region.”

Set to start kick off on October 1 in Singapore, the event will be played only on weekends to generate crowd support, especially in Singapore where there is a large community of Filipinos.

The composition of the team will be seven locals, two Asian imports, two American or European imports and one local player with a foreign blood – a Fil-Am in the case of the Philippines.

“It’s really exciting since other countries can hire our players as imports,” added Romero. “We can hire players from the PBA, PBL, and Liga ng Pilipinas. They can also hire Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese talents.”

Also taking part in the pilot tournament founded by Malaysian billionaire Tony Fernandez of Air Asia are the Singapore Slingers, Indonesian Britama of Thokir family, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Aside from Romero, also in the ABL board are Fernandez, top ranking official of the Singapore Sport Council and the owner of the Forbes Asia magazine.

Romero said that the league is not out to rival the country’s professional league – the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) – saying: “We’re out to help other players who will not be accommodated by the PBA.”

Romero said he will hold a series of tryouts starting next month.

Among the players likely to be recruited are former NCAA MVP Sam Ekwe and former RP team member Jonathan Fernandez.