20 IBL Foreign Players Arrive In Indonesia, Ready To Navigate The New Season

Illustration of foreign players in IBL (Photo: https://iblindonesia.com)

JAKARTA - As many as 20 of the 30 foreign players who will play in the 2022 Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) have arrived in the country. They are ready to strengthen their respective clubs who will participate in the professional basketball competition which will start on January 15 at the Gelora Bung Karno Complex, Jakarta.

Quoted by Antara, Friday, the players have arrived in rotation since December 16 last year.

Kendal Lee Yancy, who will wear the Bali United Basketball uniform next season, will be the first imported player to arrive in Indonesia, followed by Darryl James Palmer and Dishon Lowery who will strengthen Dewa United Surabaya in their inaugural IBL competition.

Yancy, Palmer, and Lowery have passed a 10-day quarantine period. Now, they have joined the team to face next season.

Old faces who had played in IBL the previous season have also arrived in Indonesia, such as Michael Kolawole (West Bandits Solo), Anton Davon Waters and LaQuavious Cotton (Hangtuah Jakarta).

"According to government regulations, players who come will self-quarantine for 10 days first. Only after that, they will join their respective clubs,” said IBL President Director Junas Miradiarsyah.

IBL 2022 will be played in six series in six cities during the regular season, starting from Jakarta, Bandung, DI Yogyakarta, Solo, Surabaya and Denpasar.

Junas explained that the organization of the league next season is almost the same as the previous season, except that it will not be held centrally in one location, but will still apply the bubble principles in general.

There are rules that are enforced such as tightening the activities of the participants which are limited to only around the hotel, training ground, and the location of the match.

“Hopefully our plan to invite the audience back will be granted (permission). Temporary attendance will be applied, but if in the last week before the draw increases it will be cancelled. So it's flexible," said Junas.