Local professional basketball players set up association

JAKARTA (JP): Professional basketball players of the Kobatama national league premier division will set up the Players Association (Apbama) to act as a mediator between the players and sponsors and clubs.

Apbama will consist of players who are still playing in the Kobatama and former players.

"Firstly, we will develop a communications network among members to convey any information from Jakarta to players in the provinces," Apbama's chief of the special committee on membership, Amran A. Sinta, told a media briefing on Thursday.

"The next tasks will include drawing up a code of ethics for professional players to let them know how to behave both on and off the court. We won't hesitate to criticize the Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) so as to improve the league's performance," said Amran, a former top player with the 1999 league winner Satria Muda.

He also said that most of the players who join the premier division clubs were not professionals due to their poor skills and attitude.

"The clubs can decide if they want to recruit players based on our recommendations."

Amran said Apbama could not interfere with the value of contracts between players, clubs and sponsors. He also said that the association would not set a salary range for its members due to the different financial circumstances of each club.

"I don't know anything about salaries for individual players because that's between them and their clubs. One thing for sure is that their salaries will be more than the minimum regional wage. Apbama can't interfere with the decisions because each club's financial ability is different.

The Jakarta administration hiked the monthly wage for Jakarta- based workers last September from Rp 286,000 (US$25) to Rp 344,257. The minimum wage is different in each province.

Top player from Aspac Texmaco, Tri Adnyana Adiloka, said he would study Apbama's vision and mission before deciding to join.

"I think an association should have a vision to improve the players' remuneration. As players, we also dream of having a good income and a good life."

He also expected that Apbama could help voice the players' aspirations to Perbasi.

No official figures are available, but only big clubs -- including Aspac Texmaco of Jakarta, Panasia Indosyntec of Bandung and Bhinneka Sritex of Surakarta -- provide their players with good salaries and allowances for education and healthcare. (ivy)