Basketball league organizers settle sponsorship dispute

JAKARTA (JP): With a new season just a week away, organizers of the professional basketball league (Kobatama), finally settled a month-long dispute on apparel sponsorships with two clubs on Friday.

The Indonesian Basketball Association's official in charge, Setia Dharma Madjid, told a media conference that Ades Satria Muda and Pelita Bakrie were allowed to don their own apparel instead of uniforms carrying the logo of the league's sponsor, American-based sportswear giant Nike.

"Thanks to PT Berca Sportindo, Nike's representative here, we will let the two teams wear their uniforms, but they have to cover the logo from head to toe," Dharma said.

Both Satria Muda and Pelita Bakrie refused to use the official uniforms saying they had signed a three-year contract with Nike's German perennial rival Adidas.

Until Berca Sportindo agreed to the compromise, the dispute looked to end in a stalemate despite the mediation of the league's promoter, the International Management Group (IMG) and broadcasting rights holder SCTV.

Berca Sportindo's marketing manager, Purnomo Muhammad Yudhi, said that the company was willing to allow the two teams to wear their own apparel "for the sake of basketball development in the country."

"We know that Indonesia has never won a gold medal for basketball, even in the Southeast Asian Games. Had we not been so altruistic, we might have breached our commitment to stage the annual event," the former top national sprinter said.

Defending champion Panasia Indosyntec and Siliwangi, both from Bandung, Bhinneka from Surakarta in Central Java, Jakarta's Aspac, Pelita Bakrie, IM Texmaco and Satria Muda, CLS and Pacific from Surabaya and Bima Sakti from Malang in East Java will take compete in the league.

Five of the teams will meet each other in Bandung from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, while the remaining five will play in the opening leg in Surakarta from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25. All of the teams will play round-robin matches.

The big league will be played in Surabaya between Nov. 10 and Nov. 15, and will decide the final four berths. The championship matches will be held at the Senayan Basketball Hall in Jakarta on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13.

Lack of sponsorship had delayed the league for four months, until cigarette brand A Mild, a subsidiary of giant cigarette manufacturer PT HM Sampoerna, agreed to extend its sponsorship deal with the league.

This year the association did not offer prize money due to the monetary crisis. (yan)