Philippine volleyball faces challenge

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine volleyball, like all other sports in the world, is also at a standstill.

The Premier Volleyball League and Beach Volleyball Republic yesterday have both shelved their scheduled tournaments in light of the COVID-19 concern.

PVL president Ricky Palou told The STAR they have re-scheduled their six-team International Invitational tournament from April 14 to 19 to tentatively in the last week of September or first week of October.

“The safety of everyone is our paramount concern so we’re postponing it,” said Palou.

Palou also said the PVL’s 2020 season-opening Reinforced Conference will still open on May 30 assuming conditions improved by that time.

“For now, it is set May 30. But of course, we’re still wait and see,” he said.

The BVR, for its part, has shelved its pair of BVR on Tour legs initially scheduled March 27-28 in Puerto Galera and April 4-5 in Dumaguete also due to the pandemic threat.

“The BVR has the paramount duty and responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of its fans, players, officials and crew,” said Charo Soriano, one of the founders of BVR.

The Invitational will be headlined by top PVL teams Creamline, PetroGazz and BanKo-Perlas and foreign squads Australia, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.