Jerome Beane's Opportunity To Play IBL 2024 Is Not In Accordance With The Rules

JAKARTA The opportunity for basketball player Jerome Anthony Beane to play in the Indonesia Basketball League (IBL) 2024 since the beginning of the season contradicts the rules.

Beane has been playing since the beginning of next season with Pelita Jaya after the Central Board of the Indonesian Basketball Association (PP Perbasi) issued a decision numbered 2313-REV/PP/DN/XII/2023 dated December 22, 2023.

Through this letter, the national basketball parent officially allowed the naturalized / localized player to appear in the highest national basketball competition even though the basketball player had not yet 365 days of holding an Indonesian passport.

"Beane is one part of the Indonesian Basketball National Team which is prepared for the nearest event in 2024. Therefore, Perbasi has decided that Beane can play at the IBL in 2024 since the beginning of the season," said Secretary General of Perbasi, Nirmala Dewi, in her official statement.

This decision collided with the regulations from IBL in Article 3 regarding the Mechanism for the Regulation of Local Naturalized Players.

In this article, it is stipulated that local naturalized players who are allowed to cooperate with IBL clubs are players who already hold Indonesian passports for at least 365 days or one year from the date of issuance of passports.

"The provisions for Local Naturalized Players are as follows: Has held an Indonesian passport for at least 365 days from the date of issuance of the passport before making an agreement with the IBL club," reads the IBL rules.

Beane, who was born in the United States, is a player who was just naturalized in April 2023. At that time, Beane Jr. officially became an Indonesian citizen in order to strengthen the Indonesian Basketball National Team at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia.

If referring to regulations, Beane should not be able to cooperate with the IBL club. Beane itself was announced as a Pelita Jaya player on December 12, 2023.

Previously, local naturalized players such as Beane were encouraged to play in overseas competitions. The reason is, they are naturalized for the benefit of the national team and not local clubs.

However, after being evaluated, this scenario sometimes makes it difficult for the National Team Agency (BTN) to call players when the energy is needed because it collides with the agenda of each club.

For this reason, in order to facilitate player summons to face the 2024 international agenda, such as the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Window I Qualification which is held in a home-and-away format, Perbasi also encourages local naturalized players to play in local leagues.

In addition to facilitating coordination, encouraging local naturalized players to play in local competitions will make it easier for BTN to develop programs.