MANILA – Six member states of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) have formalized the creation of a basketball league in order to boost the sport in the Southeast Asian region.

The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) launched the region’s first commercial league on Tuesday at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City.

Present at the launch were ABL representatives from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“We’re no less than thrilled of this event,” ABL Chairman Dato Tony Fernandes told The Philippine Star.

The RP team will go by the name Philippine Patriots. It will face the Singapore Slingers, Brunei Barracudas, Thailand Tigers, Kuala Lumpur Dragons and Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma.

The tournament is tentatively slated on Oct. 10. It is projected to end in January.

The ABL, which is said to be the counterpart of the Euroleague, will be played according to FIBA rules and regulations.

According to Hector Santos of Asia-Basket.com, ABL teams will be allowed to have two imports of non-ASEAN citizenship, two ASEAN imports, one player with a Southeast Asian parent, and seven local players.

The participating countries, in addition, will be allowed to field a squad comprised of local players if that is their preference.

Dream come true

Patriots team owner Mikee Romero said he hopes the ABL will make it big in the region.

“The ABL is a dream for us, this will bring all Southeast Asian countries under one roof and unite against the best in Asia,” he added, as quoted by The Philippine Star.

Indonesian team owner Erick Thohir, also the president of the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA), echoed Romero’s pronouncement.

“In the 60s, the Philippines was always among the best in Asia. Now a lot of other countries are better than the Philippines,” said Thohir.

“With the ABL, we hope we can bridge the gap,” said Thohir.

The Patriots team is still being formed while its coach has not yet been chosen. The coach could reportedly be Louie Alas, Vergel Meneses or Johnny Abarrientos. – With a report from Joey Villar, The Philippine Star