AS part of its efforts to help professional athletes during the coronavirus pandemic, the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) will hold the third Philippine Professional Sports Summit on Sept. 29.

GAB chairman Abraham “Baham” Mitra said the one-day virtual sports summit is aimed at helping athletes and pro sports stakeholders cope with their daily struggle of engaging in sports activities despite the continued threat of the COVID-19.

Mitra said the theme for this year’s summit is “Professional Sports through the Pandemic: Now and Future Direction.

Athletes and officials from leading professional leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Football League, Premier Volleyball League and Professional Chess Association of the Philippines have been invited to attend the summit.

“We want to share their experiences in what they did in overcoming challenges during their respective comebacks while the pandemic was going on and the sacrifices they made,” Mitra told People’s Tonight.

“All the while we thought we would be back to normal by this time, but we are not, and we don’t know when the pandemic is going to last. We will have several updates on professional sports, especially now that the situation is critical,” added Mitra.

Representatives from boxing, billiards, esports, golf, mixed martial arts and other professional sports under GAB supervision will also attend.

This will be my last professional sports summit and we’re hoping to go out with a bang,” said Mitra, who was appointed by President Duterte to lead the government agency on professional sports in 2016.

“Like last year, we will hold the summit on a virtual platform because of the national health situation,” added Mitra, aa former representative and governor of Palawan.

Mitra also plans to highlight the rapid growth of esports in the country, noting that it is “the fastest growing sport in the GAB family and perhaps the rest of the world.”

The GAB chairman said resource speakers will also try to explain in detail the Joint AdministratIve Order (JAO) and other different safety measures being implemented during the pandemic.

The acquisition of hematoma machines for athletes in contact sports will also be unveiled.

“We can now run tests for blood clots and contusions in boxing, and other contact sports after every fight,” the GAB chuef added.

Mitra initiated the first pro sport summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City 9n September 2019.

Among this present durIng the first pro sports summit were Sens. Christopher “Bong” Go and Sonny Angara, billiards legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Django Bustamante and former boxing champion Gerry Peñalosa.

Last year, GAB stagexd the second pro sports summit via Zoom in December.