Perbasi proposes sanctions for Panasia Indosyntec
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) has recommended the imposition of sanctions against Bandung-based club Panasia Indosyntec for refusing to appear on Dec. 5 in the final match to decide the 3rd and 4th places of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama national baseball league.
Perbasi official in charge of Kobatama Doedie Gambiro said under chapter VIII section 27 of the FIBA rules on sanctions, Panasia should be barred from competing in the league for one year and be penalized with the maximum Rp 10 million (US$1390) fine.
He said Perbasi's chairman, Sutiyoso, would make the final decision.
Panasia had threatened to quit Kobatama after an incident which occurred on Dec. 4 when they played against home team Mahaka Satria Muda in the semifinal match at the Senayan indoor stadium. Panasia was fourth after Aspac of Jakarta.
"We will recommend the sanctions to Perbasi's top official regarding as to whether they will retire or not. Panasia will be ranked 10th by the end of next year's league," he said on Wednesday.
He said Perbasi must apply the sanctions to prevent similar cases from developing during the next league.
"We don't want to create a bad situation. We don't want other clubs to withdraw from the match and quit Kobatama in protest over a referee decision."
The incident followed a decision by referee Hadi Wasito to give an outball to Panasia, which was reversed after Mahaka protested. Hadi corrected his decision after a brief review with match supervisor Setia Dharma Madjid, and decided on a jump ball.
After the match, Panasia team manager Danny Kosasih said the club would leave Kobatama as they were unable to accept the referee's decision.
Panasia's official for general affairs Suwandi Bing Adi told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview that his club would heed Perbasi's decision.
"We will wait for their decision. Awong Hidjaja (Panasia owner) had said that Panasia would not be disbanded following requests from Bandung basketball fans. We are ready to accept the sanctions," he said.
He said Panasia had not sent a resignation letter to Perbasi. He also defended Panasia's move, saying that the club wanted to inform basketball fans that the sport should maintain sportsmanship.
Doedie defended Hadi's decision, saying that he had corrected his judgment and that according to the rules, the move was valid.
"There are no sanctions for the referee, but we warned him because he was too slow in making the judgment. He corrected his decision and was it approved by the match supervisor. There was no deceit, only human error." he said.
He said the current national referees needed to improve their skills. "Panasia accuses the referee of unfairness. If other teams, who experience the same thing share a similar opinion with Panasia, who will lead the match?" (ivy)