QUEZON CITY — “By next week, we will fix everything.”
That was what outgoing PBA Board of Governors chairman Mikee Romero vowed regarding the impasse that stemmed from the future of Chito Narvasa as the league commissioner.
The said statement issued during the PBA Press Corps Awards Night at the Gloria Maris restaurant inside Gateway Mall on Thursday night hinted that the board is expected to convene early in December to finally settle the score on whether he remains as “Kume” or a new commissioner will be named for Season 43.
The Narvasa saga started when a majority bloc consisting of the league governors for the three MVP teams and four independent clubs called for an emergency meeting officially declaring the commissioner’s post vacant.
However, the board members of the other five teams, the three SMC squads, Kia, and GlobalPort, which has Romero as the representative to the board, expressed their full support to Narvasa.
The board was supposed to address the issue during the annual league planning in Los Angeles, but with the board failing to form a quorum, the trip to Hollywood was relegated to a mere vacation of sorts.
The tension somehow simmered further when the team owners of the so-called “PBA 5” did not attend the team owners meeting on Wednesday with only the owners of the majority bloc, now dubbed as the “Magnificent 7″, convening.
The developments led to fears that the PBA could end up in a lockout come Dec. 17, the scheduled start of the 2018 season.
Romero, however, assured that the new season will start on time. ”Yan yung assurance na maibibigay ko sa pag-alis ko bilang chairman,” vowed Romero, who will turn over the reins to NLEX governor Ramoncito Fernandez. (Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA)
