Initially, SBP Executive Director Patrick Gregorio has reserved the slot to the champion of the PBA All-Filipino Conference but the pro league has yet to act on his request.

For winning the just-concluded event, Sta. Lucia is lined up to compete in the tournament as bonus for topping the most prestigious conference of the pro league.

Rickie Santos, chief of PBA Operations and Technical Committee, said the matter PBA represenation will be discussed upon the return of Commissioner Sonny Barrios who is taking a vacation in the United States.

Santos, however, is skeptical whether the Board will allow a PBA team to take part in the event because it runs in conflict with their forthcoming Fiesta Cup.

"I don’t think it is possible for us to send a team because the Fiesta Cup is about to start. But it depends on the decision of the Board," Santos said. "We’ll just have to wait."

Even the PBA’s participation in the Jones Cup in July in Taipei looks in peril.

The Champions Cup, like the Jones Cup, is also in conflict with the schedule of the Fiesta Cup although the pro league will already have one team eliminated by that time.

But it looks like Gregorio is not amenable to the idea of sending a tail-ender to the event which he considers as an important tournament, too.

"I prefer that we send a selection, one that is truly competitive," Gregorio said.

In the event the PBA can’t send a team, Gregorio is likely to knock on the door of the Philippine Basketball League for the Jones Cup since the ongoing PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup is already over by June.

"My concern now is the Champions Cup which is just around the corner," said Gregorio, who added that PBL’s Harbour Centre will defend its crown in the SEABA Club Championship slated next month in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Gregorio also said that if the PBA would not form a team for the Asian Games slated in China two years from now, he would ask the help of Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero to bankroll the training and participation of the team.

Romero, a patron of amateur basketball, has expressed willingness to help form a national team for the Asian Games.

Romero was also the one who financed the training of the Philippine men’s basketball team in last year’s Thailand SEA Games.