“The league’s paramount duty and responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of all participants and staff that extra precautions are continuously in place to minimize/eliminate the risk of exposure to the Covid-19 virus,” the statement read.

With the high number of draftees this year, PBA is considering the travel restrictions of the aspirants who are coming from provinces and overseas.

Fil-foreign PBA applicants flying from overseas will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine when they arrive in the Philippines.

The same government protocol will also be imposed on players who will be traveling to the National Capital Region (NCR).

Moreover, aspirants were allowed by PBA to complete their obligations with their respective teams in the other leagues.

The two-day annual event was an opportunity for the teams to have a second look at the aspirants who will undergo tests and will be split into teams and compete on 5-on-5 scrimmages during the draft combine.

Instead, the teams were allowed to conduct separate workouts for the draft applicants in order to give teams a chance to see players up close, however, scrimmages are still not allowed, said Marcial.

The aspirants will need to undergo swab testing first before their individual workout in accordance with the league’s health protocols.

A final list of qualified aspirants will be released by PBA a week prior to the Rookie Draft which is slated on March 14.