ILOILO City – The two-day goodwill basketball match between the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons and Southwestern University Cobras has been postponed to March, 2020.
Ilonggo sportsman Rodolfo Villaruz said in a statement that the postponement of the games on Feb. 21 and 22 was due to the unavailability of UP stars Kobe Paras and brothers Juan and Javi Gomez De Liaño, who are up for national duties.
Paras and the De Liaño brothers were recently named as part of the 24-man Gilas Pilipinas pool for the first window of the Fédération internationale de basket (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers slated mid-February.
“We decided to move the UP-MBT Iloilo trip to other dates which we are going to announce soon. It is for the interest of the Ilonggo basketball enthusiasts, especially the fans of Kobe, Javi and Juan to see them play,” Villaruz said.
“The FIBA window qualifiers fall on Feb. 20 against Thailand and Feb. 23 against Indonesia, which are almost the same dates with our planned Iloilo trip. National interests and service to the country must be above all more than anything else,” he added.
Villaruz also announced that one of the two goodwill matches will be held in Passi City as part of the Pintados celebration, while the other in IIoilo City.
The Maroons-Cobras goodwill game is presented by Slam N Jam Sports Management. Ticket reservations can be done through 09267227021./PN
