No quarantine for visiting teams

There will be eight teams coming to the country to participate in the FIBA Asia Cup third qualifying window involving three groups in the Clark bubble on June 16-20 and SBP has facilitated no quarantine for the visitors when they arrive. With the Philippines, nine squads are playing a total of 12 games over five days with two tripleheaders and three twinbills.

Playing in Group A are the Philippines (3-0), South Korea (2-0), Indonesia (1-2) and Thailand (0-4). Malaysia (0-1) is skipping the competition, leaving Chinese Taipei (1-1), Japan (1-0) and China (0-0) to battle in Group B. Australia (2-1) and New Zealand (2-1) are also opting out so only Guam (0-1) and Hong Kong (0-1) are left to face off in Group C. Guam or Hong Kong will tie Australia and New Zealand in the standings with a sweep and the quotient system will determine the top two placers to advance to the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta on Aug. 16-28.

The first tripleheader will be on June 16 with the Philippines facing South Korea, Japan meeting China and Guam taking on Hong Kong. On June 17, it will be South Korea against Indonesia and Chinese-Taipei against China. The second tripleheader will be on June 18 with the Philippines against Indonesia, Japan against Chinese-Taipei and Guam against Hong Kong. On June 19, it will be Thailand against South Korea and China against Japan. The last day will feature the Philippines against South Korea and China against Chinese-Taipei.

Since China hasn’t played a game in the qualifiers, it’ll be a busy schedule for the Mainlanders who’ll see action in four of the five days. It’s the same grind for South Korea even as Ricardo Ratliffe and company played twice in the first window in February last year, whipping Indonesia, 109-76 and Thailand, 93-86. The Philippines will play thrice in five days, including a pair against South Korea.

SBP special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio said in avoiding the quarantine requirement, each visiting team must submit to a bubble-to-bubble protocol. “They have to come as a team from their own bubble,” he explained. “It’s a bubble to bubble arrangement for all teams. Unfortunately, Kai Sotto is not exempted kasi dapat, team bubble to Clark bubble.”

SBP deputy executive director Butch Antonio confirmed the arrangement. “No quarantine because of the sports bubble set-up,” he said. “We are encouraging the teams to land in Clark if possible but it’s also OK to land in NAIA.” Antonio added that if and when Sotto flies in from the US, he will be subject to the required quarantine for arriving travelers.

The good news is Sotto was expected to arrive from the US last night. He’ll be required to quarantine in an IATF-sanctioned hotel or facility so it won’t be possible to bring him straight to the Calamba bubble. “At least, he’ll already be in town,” said Gregorio. The SBP official cited this quarantine procedure: “Currently, passengers arriving in Manila are required to undergo a minimum 10-day mandatory hotel quarantine and get swabbed on the seventh day…passengers who test negative can continue their quarantine at home from the 10th to the 14th day.” That means the actual restricted period is two weeks. If Sotto flew in last night, he won’t be ready to practice until June 15 or the day before the Philippines plays South Korea to start its campaign in Clark. But maybe there’s a chance that after the 10th day, Sotto may complete his quarantine in the Clark bubble.