Filipinos to referee pro-basketball finals

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)