“I told Chot (Reyes) we have to form the team for 2023 and that’s six or seven years from today. The players should be 26 to 32-year-old in 2023,” said Pangilinan during a news conference on Thursday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Pasig City. We need two naturalized players to be in the pool. The Philippine team is automatically qualified for the 2023 World Cup as one of the host countries. “We are not only doing this because of FIBA (World Cup 2023 hosting) the programs are already in placed for the infrastructures,” said Cayetano, noting that the hosting of World Cup will also boost the country’s tourism.

Source: Manila Times December 14, 2017 11:37 UTC