The Games and Amusements Board (GAB; ) is the government-run regulatory body of professional sports in the Philippines.

History

The Games and Amusements Board initially started its operation in 1951 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 392. Through this particular law, the powers, duties and functions previously exercised, and performed by: #the city and municipal mayors over fronton and basque pelota games #the Boxing and Wrestling Commission over boxing and wrestling #the Commission on Races over horse racing, were consolidated and transferred to the Board On March 20, 1974, upon the signing into law of Presidential Decree No. 420 creating the Philippine Racing Commission, the authority over horse racing was divided between the Board and the Philracom. GAB retained the function of supervision and regulation of the betting aspect of horse racing, while all other functions related to horse racing were transferred to Philracom. On January 6, 1976, the scope of GAB's regulatory function over professional sports widened as the agency was tasked to likewise supervise and regulate the professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and other professional games in the country. The Board's regulatory function was also made more specific against anti-illegal gambling operations with the establishment of Anti-Illegal Gambling Unit (AIGU) on January 17, 1992 – which became one of GAB's units. AIGU initially was composed of personnel appointed by the Chairman of GAB and detailed staff from the

Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police (PNP; ) is the national police force of the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currently, it has approximately 228,000 personnel to police a pop ...

, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine Racing Commission, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, other offices involved in gambling operations, as well as other law enforcement agencies in the country. On December 28, 1993, the board assumed part of the overall functions of the Gamefowl Commission, particularly insofar as international

cockfight Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

derbies are concerned. In October 2020, GAB issued a joint order with the Philippine Sports Commission classifying any athlete who gets paid for non-national team play will be considered as professionals. Any sporting events which are conducted for profit were classified as professional in nature.

Leadership

GAB, as an organization, is headed by a chairman and two commissioners * Chairman: Francisco J. Rivera * Commissioner for Administrative and Finance: Angel P. Bautista * Commissioner for Operations: Manuel S. Plaza III

Scope

Sports and activities

Professional sports and activities the GAB regulates include: ;Sports *

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

(including women's) *

eSports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

Table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

;Other activities *

Cockfighting Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

It is also mandated to crack down against illegal gambling practices in professional sports.

Leagues

The following are the national and top-flight sports leagues that are sanctioned by the GAB. GAB considers leagues where participating athletes "play for pay" should be under its supervisions under its mandate. In November 2018, the GAB has announced plans to put leagues which meets this criterion under its supervision such as volleyball leagues,

Spikers' Turf The Spikers' Turf is the top-level men's semi-professional volleyball league in the Philippines organized by the Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. (Sports Vision), established in 2015. History The league had its beginnings in 2014, when t ...

and Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association, and football league, PFF Women's League despite some of the leagues' players still simultaneously playing in collegiate leagues.

Combat Sports Organizations

* Filipino Pro Wrestling *

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

*Philippine Encuentro Championship * PUSO Wrestling *Underground Battle MMA * Universal Reality Combat Championship *Ultimate Muaythai Challenge Philippines *Zeus Combat League

References

{{Authority control Sports organizations of the Philippines Gambling in the Philippines 1951 establishments in the Philippines Government agencies established in 1951 Sports organizations established in 1951 Government agencies of the Philippines Establishments by Philippine executive order Government sports agencies Government agencies under the Office of the President of the Philippines