Filipinos to referee pro-basketball finals

JAKARTA (JP): Two international referees from the Philippines will administer the final leg of this year's Intercity Professional Basketball League (Kobatama) from today through Sunday.

Rolando Omampo and Dany Bayaiz are certified by the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), said Meliono Soewondo, vice chairman of the Kobatama commission.

Omampo heads the Filipino referee commission. He is named the chief referee in almost all Asian basketball competitions.

"They are expensive," Meliono said. "Their payments are equal to those of the U.S. National Basketball Association's referees."

Meliono said they will be assisted by a Malaysian referee, Hoo Hong Kwan, and a Singaporean one, Pang Siauw Kwan.

Meliono added that the organizers found it necessary to employ international referees, since domestic referees are not considered qualified enough to administer the final games.

"The use of international referees also shows our intention to make the matches truly professional," Meliono added.

The final leg, held at the Senayan Basketball Hall, features eight club finalists, all of whom employ imported cagers.

The eight clubs are defending champion Aspac of Jakarta, which collected the most points, 20; Indonesia Muda of Jakarta, with 18 points; Bima Sakti of Malang, 17points; Pacific of Surabaya, 16 points; Pelita Jaya of Jakarta, 16 points; CLS of Surabaya, 15 points; Siliwangi, 14 points, and Hadtex, 14 points. The latter two are from Bandung.

All the teams will play round-robin matches with only one day off on Friday. "This is an exhausting schedule. There should be a day off for each club between two matches," said Kennard Robinson, CLS's center.

The league features imported cagers for the first time in its history.

A two-day slam dunk competition starting tomorrow will color the matches. The best American and Indonesian dunkers will each get a prize of Rp 500,000.

The first leg was held in Jakarta from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1. The second leg of the league competition was held in Surabaya, East Java, from Oct. 26 to Oct. 29, before moving to Bandung, West Java, from Nov. 24 to Nov. 27. (arf)