MANILA, Philippines – No sports events, even finals games, are too big for the cost of safety.
As such, the PVL rescheduled its last two games of the conference to Wednesday, September 4, at the PhilSports Arena after postponing its all-important knockout final slate at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday, September 2, due to the scourge of Typhoon Enteng in Luzon.
Time slots have yet to be finalized for the two matches and the subsequent awarding ceremony. Refund mechanics for Araneta ticket holders have also yet to be announced.
Sister teams PLDT and Cignal are set to battle for the bronze, while controversial finalist Akari and shorthanded Creamline contest the gold. This will mark PLDT’s final appearance before the All-Filipino Conference around November as it has already skipped the Invitationals due to injuries.
This is now the second straight game day and third overall of the conference that was postponed due to outside forces, the last being a power outage at the PhilSports compound that moved the knockout semifinals to Saturday, August 31, at Araneta, which is now reserved by the PBA for Wednesday.
Earlier in the import-laden tournament, the PVL also postponed its July 25 triple-header due to the Typhoon Carina-enhanced southwest monsoon.
Crowd control is expected to be an issue at the much-smaller PhilSports venue since the knockout semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena already attracted a peak crowd of 11,438. – Rappler.com