By Mark Angelo Mañez

PHOTO: Tiebreaker Times/SBP

FIBA Asia Executive Director Hagop Khajirian bared Friday evening that the Philippines will once again re-host the final window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The statement of Khajirian was posted by Coaches Unfiltered’s Charles Tiu.

Early Friday morning, Qatar, host of Groups A, B, and E games from February 17 to 23, were forced to cancel their hosting due to the rising cases of coronavirus in the country.

Group A, consists of the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand; B, consists of Chinese-Taipei, Japan, Malaysia, and China; and E, consists of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

According to Khajirian, “four national federations already expressed their support to FIBA to host one or more groups in their country to play the canceled games.”

The Philippines was originally set to host the third window of Group A and C that has Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and Hong Kong. However, the travel ban imposed by the country led to the hosting transferring to Qatar.

Games were supposed to take place at the AUF Sports & Cultural Center in Angeles while lodging will be at Quest Hotel in Clark.


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