MANILA, Philippines -- The situation may still change, but as of now no fans will be allowed to watch inside the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City during the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers later this month.

The Big Dome will host the upcoming window from February 24-28, with the Philippines, New Zealand, South Korea, and India all set to compete. Gilas Pilipinas will play four games in a five-day span: Korea on February 24 and 28, India on February 22, and New Zealand on February 27.

Speaking at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday morning, the executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) said that the local government of Quezon City did not allow for fans inside the venue.

"'Yung sistema ngayon, dati-dati nagpapaalam tayo sa PSC (Philippine Sports Commission), dahil hindi naman tayo professional league," SBP's Sonny Barrios explained. "Nagpapaalam tayo sa PSC and then the IATF."

"Itong hosting natin ngayon, may third entity na kailangan nating pag-paalaman, which is the LGU," he added. "So nagpaalam po tayo sa Quezon City, ang sagot ng Quezon City, okay, pero wala tayo munang paying fans."

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Quezon City is under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 from February 1-15, which allows for contact sports if approved by the LGU. Establishments are also allowed to operate at 50% capacity for fully vaccinated individuals.

Barrios, however, is not completely ruling out the possibility that fans can still be allowed to watch the games in person.

"Tingnan natin kasi 'di ba, ang update nila, every 15 days. So ang umiiral ngayon 'yung advisory covering period February 1-15," he said.

"Tignan natin 'yung development sa 16 to end of February, which will cover the qualifiers natin, kung may pag-asa. Pero sa ngayon po, wala, wala tayo," he added.

The Philippines is already qualified to the FIBA World Cup 2023 as hosts, but will still compete in the qualifiers. Gilas will be composed of a mix of young players and veterans from the TNT Tropang GIGA in this window.

Chot Reyes will call the shots for the national team, having replaced Tab Baldwin as head coach last week.

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