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| The Road to Jakarta suddenly got even tougher for Ricardo Ratliffe and the rest of the South Korean side. Dennis Acosta (file photo) |
MANILA--South Korea has to shave two points from its accumulated points so far in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers after FIBA penalized the team for not participating in the second window in Manama, Bahrain last November.
FIBA announced on Tuesday night that South Korea, as well as China and Chinese Taipei, was given the said sanction plus a fine of CHF160,000 (around PHP8.6 million) each for begging off from the second window, which was played through a bubble.
The three teams decided not to go to Bahrain last November due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to South Korea backing out, Gilas Pilipinas Men only got to play a back-to-back set against Thailand with both games ending up in blowout victories for the Philippine squad.
South Korea was also scheduled to face Indonesia.
A win gives a certain team two points, while a loss will still net the squad one point.
With the penalty, South Korea, which swept its first window assignments, will drop to two points ahead of a busy third window in Angeles come February in which they will play four matches including a two-game series against host team Gilas Pilipinas Men.
On the other hand, FIBA also announced that one point will be given to Gilas Men, Indonesia, and Thailand as an incentive if they join the third window.
With Gilas Men hosting, they will get the bonus, moving them up to seven points.
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