The IBL Club Agrees To No Naturalization Players For The 2021 Season

JAKARTA - The clubs participating in the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) agreed not to use naturalized players in the 2021 season competition.

The agreement was taken in connection with the limited number of naturalized players available and complied with the IBL rules.

Referring to the previous regulations, naturalized players are Indonesian citizens who obtain their rights through the naturalization process, but in the process, naturalized players can be selected through a joint selection mechanism with foreign players through the IBL draft.

However, the IBL decided to refine the rules regarding naturalization players who are referred to as naturalized locales.

Based on the new regulations, each club may only propose to naturalized players who already have an Indonesian passport for at least 365 days since the endorsement and get approval from PP Perbasi.

"This improvement is expected to provide better rules and opportunities for existing naturalized players," said IBL President Director Junas Miradiarsyah, quoted by Antara from the official IBL website, Thursday.

However, Junas said that the IBL participating clubs had finally agreed to use naturalized players in the 2022 season competition, given the current very short preparation time. Most of the clubs have also prepared their roster for next season.

Louvre Surabaya club owner Erick Herlangga, for example, agreed with a plan to use naturalized local players for the 2022 IBL season.

"Currently, in the middle of a pandemic, it is better to concentrate on forming a team with a prepared roster of local players," said Erick.