Blackwater Elite game scheduled for Sunday, October 25 has been moved after one of the team’s players tested positive during a routine exam.
The player and his roommate have been put in isolation while they wait for results of confirmatory tests to come out.
Blackwater played against TNT Tropang Giga last Thursday, October 22.
And to find out if more players are affected, the members of the Tropang Giga squad will also be tested and quarantined afterwards.
Philippine Basketball Association medical consultant Raul Canlas, who is also a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Medical Commission, said the protocols that were done on a referee that was the first to test positive under the bubble will again be put in motion.
Because of this, the Elite’s match at 4 p.m. against Rain or Shine at the Angeles University Foundation was scrubbed.
But, the PBA Philippine Cup clash between the Magnolia Hotshots and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings at 6:45 p.m. was not affected.
To find out if more players, coaches and staff are also affected, the teams which Blackwater Elite faced earlier in the season could also be quarantined as more tests are done.
And this could also affect the schedules of the NLEX Road Warriors, the Gin Kings, the Northport Batang Pier and the Tropang Giga.
“When we did subsequent tests, he (referee) was negative. We are in the process of improving our safety and our testing. Rest assured that the protocols that we have applied are working,” said Canlas.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said the cancellation of Blackwater’s game was done following a meeting with Secretary Vince Dizon, who is the Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Task Force COVID-19 and President of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
Dizon said they are currently applying the best practices seen from sports organizations abroad, and in consultation with the National Basketball Association and the FIBA.
He added that any kind testing is not wholly 100% accurate, which was the case for the referee who may have returned a false positive.
