South Korea Withdraws from FIBA World Cup Qualifiers

February 22, 2022 – The Korean Men’s National Basketball team faces forfeiture in the FIBA Qualifiers as the team withdrew from the February window due to Health and Safety Protocols.

The Korean Basketball Association (KBA) has announced that they will withdraw from a qualifiers game on Thursday, February 24 against the Philippines’ National Team, Gilas Pilipinas. They were set to play in the host country, the Philippines, in Smart Araneta Coliseum (Cubao, Metro Manila).

Kai Sotto vs Ricardo Ratcliffe (2021), Photo Courtesy of GMA Network

A member of the team had tested positive for Covid-19 after an RT-PCR Test last Monday, and as the Covid-19 health and safety protocol suggests, the KBA decided to withdraw from the said outing.

Reports showed that other members who also tested positive for the virus were their naturalized player, Ricardo Ratliffe (now Ra Gun-a), and previous 2020 KBA League MVP, Heo Hoon. The Korean Team was afraid that there will be another surge of cases, so they decided to forfeit the game.

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The FIBA management is yet to announce their final verdict on the status of the Korean National Team, as they still have 3 more games to play for the qualifiers.

  • New Zealand (Friday, Feb.25)
  • Japan (Sunday, Feb. 27)
  • Philippines (Monday, Feb. 28)

The Korean team is known as a long-time rival of the Philippine National team.

Back in 2013, Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines), made a huge upset against the Koreans when they beat them 86-79 in the Fiba Asia Championship Semifinals. Gilas Pilipinas puts an end to the infamous “Korean Curse”. It was a defining moment for the Filipinos and forever marked the history of the game of basketball.

Jimmy Alapag, Photo Courtesy of thesummitexpress.com

Seven years since that event, Gilas Pilipinas has gone to lose each of their games against the Koreans. They have gone 0-5 against them, which puts them into another “Korean Curse”.

Philippines and Korea will face off once again on Monday, February 28. That is if FIBA still allows Korea to participate.

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