RI pro volleyball leagues to start next year

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Volleyball in Indonesia is set to enter a new era with the creation of a professional indoor league as well as a pro beach volleyball league, beginning next year. Both leagues will be enhanced by international players.

The plans for the new leagues were announced on Thursday with the endorsement of a memorandum of understanding between PBVSI, the country's volleyball governing body, and promoter m-lynx.

PBVSI was represented by chairwoman Rita Subowo and m-lynx, which was established only three months ago, was represented by its president Harry Kuntoro.

Under the contract, m-lynx will provide the competition funding for the leagues which is expected be approximately Rp 18 billion.

The indoor volleyball season will run from Feb. 2002 until May 2002 and feature eight men's and women's teams from seven cities -- Jakarta, Tangerang, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Gresik and Surabaya. They will each play home and away matches.

Unlike previous volleyball competitions here, the new leagues will not put a ban on international athletes.

"It is mandatory for a club to include at least one non- Indonesian player on their squad," Cahya Azis, a PBVSI official, told The Jakarta Post.

Cahya is also an executive board member of PT Profesitama Pro- League (PPL), the business entity assigned by PBVSI to manage the league.

Players are expected to come from Asian indoor volleyball powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea.

The beach volleyball circuit will see 16 men's and 16 women's teams, where Brazilian and Australian players are expected to greatly boost the level of competition on the beach.

"We will recruit international players in cooperation with embassies, Indonesian-based foreign companies or expat coaches who are employed here," Cahya said.

The competing teams are required to submit a Rp 100 million enrollment fee to PBVSI.

The arrival of non-Indonesian players will almost certainly result in an increase in the clubs' expenditures as international recruits are expected to earn between US$1,000 and $2,000 monthly.

Financial aid will be available for the participating clubs as well as lucrative cash prizes. However, the exact amounts have not yet been disclosed.

The clubs participating in the league will not be announced until after Nov. 25, the deadline for them to sign their contracts with the promoter.