Local professional basketball players set up association
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)