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Philippine Super League (PSL) president Philip Ella Juico revealed on the Philippine Sports Writers Association Forum webcast that the league plans to begin its three-conference season around the first quarter of 2021.
The PSL was supposed to host a bubble-style beach volleyball tournament on Nov. 28-30 within the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, but decided to postpone the event to avoid conflict with leaders involved in potential relief efforts.
“Taking a conservative and proactive stance, Central Luzon, which includes the SBMA industrial zone, may suffer serious damage from severe weather disturbances called ‘Rolly’ and ‘Siony’ days apart over the next several weeks from [Nov. 1]”the league explained in a Nov. 2 statement.
“The PSL clearly sensed the serious concern expressed by the same front-line agencies over the calamities at a two-hour coordination conference Friday night. Officials who attended spoke of their involvement as pioneers in alleviating the suffering of thousands in Central Luzon that will be directly affected by the wrath of nature and the damage to infrastructure and the disruption of public services. All of these disasters will definitely make managing an already challenging pandemic more difficult, “he added.
Instead, the league is looking for the outdoor invite to take place in mid-February.
“The plan is to have our three regular conferences. We will have a regular conference in late February or early March, a second conference around June or July, and the third conference around October. We will have a full menu,” Juico said, adding It depends on the approval of the IATF.
Juico anticipated that the development of a vaccine would be very crucial, as numerous squads of PSL indicated fear of returning without an effective vaccine.
“We are going to apply for a permit from the IATF in the coming weeks for indoor volleyball,” said the president of the PSL.
Now potential locations are being explored and potential problems are being hatched. In addition, the league is leaning towards organizing the Grand Prix with an import flavor towards the end of the year, in consideration of the pandemic situation in the countries of origin of the reinforcement.
“Everything is in tune with the direction of COVID,” Juico said.
Juico also mentioned that PSL is still open to a possible “Unity Cup” with teams from the Premier Volleyball League.
“Actually, we are the ones who are getting closer. Merge or what? I’m good. We want to unite the volleyball community,” Juico said.
Regarding the recent call from GAB President Abraham Mitra to encourage semi-professional leagues to turn pro, Juico noted that numerous owners expressed fear of allowing players to turn pro.
“Maybe [we could go professional]. It depends on the situation, although seven of the eight owners on our team recently said we shouldn’t go down that path. We must stay where we are ”, clarified Juico.
