With the Cambodian Basketball Federation (CBF) unable to run this year's league due to a lack of sponsorship, the owners of several active clubs are planning a six-team mini tournament from February 25 to March 28 in a community-based format involving players of various nationalities.
Unlike in previous seasons, the CBF's attempts to secure a main sponsor bore no fruit and the Cambodian Basketball League (CBL) was inevitably called off, much to the chagrin of the teams regularly taking part in the Kingdom's only major basketball event. The Federation has shifted its focus instead on youth development and is diverting its resources towards grassroots programmes.
In an effort to brighten up the basketball scene and encourage competition across communities that are committed to the game, the owners of some of the leading teams in Phnom Penh hit upon the idea of a month-long tournament to be held at the Cambodian Country Club court, drawing in a bunch of top players from the erstwhile CBL outfits. Each team will play two games per week, one of them on a Sunday and the other on either Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday in accordance with the schedule.
The competing teams represent basketball communities actively involved in the game, and the six invitees are the Cambodian community (CCC); Filipino community (Mannygram); Filipino community 2 (Warriors); Chinese community (MSGM); Western community (Smart Dragons); and Mixed community (Extra Joss).
