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| With the ongoing Middle East conflict a thing of concern, FIBA is looking to hold the August window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Peter Baltazar (file photo) |
MANILA—From the looks of it, six games to open the second round of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers could take place in the Philippines.
First reported by renowned sports journalist Quinito Henson and later relayed by commentator Jutt Sulit during the Philippine broadcast of the Monday night game between Gilas Pilipinas and Australia, the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay is being eyed as the battleground for the entire August window games among Group E teams: Gilas, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Jordan, and Syria.
Based on the schedule on the FIBA website, Gilas is supposed to begin its tough bid to keep its hopes of making the FIBA World Cup alive on the road against Jordan before hosting Iran at the MOA Arena.
However, based on Henson and Sulit's report, the MOA Arena may also host the supposed Jordan home stand, which means Gilas could get an extra home game that may be a huge boost in its must-win quest.
Although he did not directly answer whether Australia, which is scheduled to first play Syria on the road before battling Jordan at home, will make the trip to Pasay for the August games, head coach Adam Caporn confirmed that a "neutral site" will be the battleground.
"That window will be tough. My understanding is they're neutral sites. Looking forward to the next step of the challenge," Caporn said.
The Filipino broadcasters claimed that the August window games for Group E will be played on Aug. 27 and 31, but the FIBA website showed that they are scheduled on Aug. 28 and 30.
Regardless of when it will really happen, bringing everything in just one place means the MOA Arena may need to hold tripleheaders each gameday.
The ongoing tensions in the Middle East prompted FIBA to find neutral arenas for games involving the "Gulf teams" as it did during the first round.
Similarly, FIBA had to strip Taiwan and China of hosting rights for their national teams' two meetings in the qualifiers due to their long-time border disputes, with the MOA Arena hosting their first showdown and the Goyang Sono Arena in South Korea the venue for their rematch.
China won both its games against Taiwan, known in the sporting world as Chinese Taipei due to sovereignty issues, which helped the former secure its spot in the second round as part of Group F along with Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the host of the main FIBA World Cup next year.
The Middle East teams are scheduled to host the Aug. 27 games before flying to their East Asian counterparts to play road games on Aug. 31.
However, the possibility of holding the Group F games in another neutral arena also looms.
Gilas needs to be in the Top 4 for Group E to have a better chance of qualifying for the fourth consecutive edition.
However, being two games behind New Zealand, Gilas may need to win the majority of its second-round games and hope that the Tall Blacks falter eventually.
