In a statement released by SBP president Al Panlilio, the federation is condemning “in the strongest terms the travesty that took place in Alcantara, Cebu”.

“The play of both teams according to the merits of the game was obviously sorely lacking as seen by the viewing public via live streaming,” he said. 

The game played on April 14 was decided to be called off at halftime by the head of the league’s technical group, with a recommendation from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), so as not to “prolong the ugly display of shenanigans taking place on the court.”

“Moving forward, the SBP will study how such unwanted incidents that unduly stains the integrity of the game of basketball can be prevented from happening again in the future, and how those guilty of dishonesty playing the game in this deplorable fashion can be penalized if not banned outright from engaging in the sport of basketball,” said Panlilio.

As the governing body of the sport, SBP is “mandated to oversee that the integrity of the game of basketball is upheld and maintained at all time for it to be a source of inspiration to the youth of the country towards developing role models, who can contribute to the overall effort in nation-building.”

Sanctions were already handed out by the league to the players and coaches involved in the game-fixing allegations, however, GAB is still probing the issue to unmask the perpetrators behind the controversy.

SBP will be fully supporting the investigation so these incidents will be prevented in the future.

“The SBP expresses its support to GAB in its moves to get to the truth and accordingly, penalize those who committed this great injustice to all basketball stakeholders, including corporate sponsors who go out of their way to invest financial resources to support and propagate the sport at grassroots level,” Panlilio added.