by Joaquin Luis E. Quesada

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) has formally announced that the league will resume operations for its 84th season on March 26 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

According to UAAP President Emmanuel Calanog, this season will have limited tournaments because of the few qualified sports that met the league’s criteria. The sports included this season are men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, cheer dance, men’s and women’s 3x3 basketball, men’s beach volleyball, Poomsae, and chess.

“As much as we wanted to have all the sports played, the current situation made the Board decide to only have the covered sports together with some sports that met our criteria,” Calanog said.

UAAP also announced their schedule for this season: all games will be played on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and all teams will play on each playdate. All competitions will still follow the format of two-round eliminations, Final Four, and Best-of-three Finals. 

The potential venues include the MOA Arena, Smart Araneta Coliseum, FilOil Flying V Centre, and Ynares Sports Arena.

Teams will have reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests every 14 days, and antigen testing every game day.

In the event that a player’s test results come out positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the game will still continue as planned if the affected team has the required minimum number of players. Positive players will be quarantined.

Men’s basketball will be the first tournament to be in action and it is estimated to end around May 12, the women’s volleyball will start afterward. Meanwhile, other sports are scheduled to start near the end of May.

However, following the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) advisories, there will be no fans and media in the stands as this season will be held in a strict bubble set up at least in the first round of men’s basketball. But, the UAAP is open to the idea of bringing back the fans and media if the COVID-19 situation in the country eases.

“As executive director [Atty. Rebo Saguisag] mentioned, we’ll ask for more patience from our fans and our media partners,” Calanog said.

The collegiate league announced that the opening ceremony will be pre-recorded to be aired on March 26, they have filmed it since November 2021. 

(Photo screengrab from the virtual press conference)