No foreigners in basketball championships
JAKARTA (JP): The country's professional basketball league (Kobatama) will kick off in Bandung on Sep. 20, but unlike in previous seasons, this year's league will be devoid of imported players and prize money.
The Indonesian Basketball Association's official in charge of the league, Setiadarma Madjid, said yesterday that financial troubles had made it impossible for the organizers to provide prize money.
"Participating clubs have not retained their foreign players for the same reason," he told a media conference. Foreign players have been adding spice to the league since 1994.
A lack of sponsors had delayed the league for four months before cigarette brand A Mild, a subsidiary of giant cigarette manufacturer Sampoerna, agreed to extend its sponsorship deal with the league.
Setiadarma said he was upbeat that the league would not lose its sparkle without foreign players.
"We believe that basketball enthusiasts will continue to support the league," he said.
The 10 clubs competing in the league are defending champion Panasia Indosyntec and Siliwangi, both from Bandung; Bhinneka from Surakarta; Aspac, Pelita Bakrie, IM Texmaco and Ades Satria Muda, all from Jakarta; CLS and Pacific from Surabaya; and Bima Sakti from Malang in East Java.
Only five teams will turn up for the opening leg of the league between Sep. 30 and Oct. 4. The other five clubs will lock horns in Surakarta from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25. They will play round-robin matches.
All the teams will meet each other in Surabaya between Nov. 10 and Nov. 15 to vie for places in the last four. The league will then be decided at the Senayan Basketball Hall in Jakarta on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13.
Setiadarma said the tournament toured the country to promote the sport in cities other than Jakarta.
Aspac team manager Irawan Haryono said that his team, victorious in 1995 and 1996, had set its sights on a place in the last four. "We are out to regain the title this time around," he said.
His Pelita counterpart, Totok Sudarsono, said he would not dare to dream of success because of the hasty preparations his team have made for this year's competition.
Separately, the association's secretary-general, Sri Sudono Sumarto, said that Indonesia would not send a team to the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) championships in Kuala Lumpur next month for financial and technical reasons.
"We cannot afford the Rp 400 million (US$30,770) that we need to send a team. Besides, we won't have enough time to select players. They will be busy with the league when the SEABA championship is underway," he said. (yan)