Contract negotiations up

MANILA, Philippines — With official team practices about to restart, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial reminded the squads to make sure all their players are signed to live contracts.

There are players whose contracts have lapsed last May and June during the hiatus, and Marcial said league rules give the teams five days once training rolls to re-sign them. San Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot lead the list of big names up for contract negotiations as their contracts are set to expire Aug. 31

“Ang mahalaga, pag start natin, pagpalagay mo na July 22, kailangan umandar na kasi yung kontrata, kailangang mag-renew ka ng contract within five days (It’s important that the teams re-sign those with expired contracts within five days of our training restart, which we target on July 22),” Marcial said on the Sports Page show on TV5.

The league has frozen player movement while play is suspended while giving the 12 ballclubs the option to renew those with expiring pacts right away or wait until the return-to-practice.

With the help of the Games and Amusements Board, the PBA recently got approval from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) to do non-scrimmage training sessions by batches of four players under strict health and safety protocols.

“Malaking bagay iyon (This is a big boost to the PBA),” said Marcial, who gained more confidence the league will be able to hold its Philippine Cup by September or October.

Marcial said the coaches and the team managers will convene on Friday and the board will sit down over the weekend to fine-tune their restart plans.

“Kakausapin natin ang coaches  and team managers regarding the protocols, comments, suggestions at kung ano pa maidadagdag nila (We’ll brief the coaches and team managers of our protocols, and get their comments and suggestions as well),” said Marcial.

“And then magpapatawag kami ng governors meeting, maybe Saturday through Monday, na malalaman namin through chairman Ricky Vargas. After nun, mga five to seven days, magsisimula na tayo ng practice (The board of governors headed by chairman Ricky Vargas will meet over the weekend, and five or seven days after that, we’ll start the practices),” he added.

Marcial reiterated that team personnel are required to undergo COVID testing.