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The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will seek clarification from FIBA Asia about a possible stint for ASEAN Basketball League champion San Miguel Beer to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
SBP deputy executive director Bernie Atienza told InterAKTV that the organization will write a letter asking FIBA Asia about an automatic berth for the Beermen for the Champions Cup, a club competition for top teams all over the region.
The tournament is slated on September 13 to 21 in Amman, Jordan.
“We want to know if the previous rule still exist because San Miguel is also inquiring about it,” Atienza said in a telephone interview.
“Gusto nating i-avoid yan kasi last year nagkagulo-gulo tayo.”
Last year, there was confusion as to which team would represent the Philippines in the competition. San Miguel Beer, which finished as the runner-up in last season’s ABL tournament, thought that it earned a berth for the contest.
But the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team, which finished in the top four of the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, also thought that it was seeded for the tournament.
FIBA Asia secretary-general Hagop Khajirian later told the SBP that San Miguel Beer had the right to represent the Philippines. By then, however, the Beermen had already dissolved its original squad before embarking on a major buildup.
As a result of the confusion, the Philippines was unable to send a squad to the competition.
Source: Rey Joble, InterAKTV
