JAKARTA - The 2026 Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) which will start this weekend comes with a best-of-five match format for the semifinals and finals. This is the first time in the history of the competition that the format has been used.
IBL Gopay 2026 will start on January 10, opening with a duel between the Tangerang Hawks Basketball Club and Satya Wacana Salatiga at the Indomilk Arena, Tangerang, Banten. The first day of the competition will hold a total of four matches.
IBL President Director, Junas Miradiarsyah, emphasized that the 2026 season was an important momentum to strengthen the relationship between the league and the national basketball lovers and the third year of using the home-and-away system.
"Since we changed the home-away system, there are many positive things that are not only as a league, but also from the club side, having their own fan base, having their own home base, then the players also feel the difference playing in the home and away format," said Junas.
Junas further said that the implementation of the best-of-five format in the semifinals and finals was carried out due to various considerations, one of which was the increasingly competitive competition and managed to attract many spectators.
"If you look at the third game, the game is worth adding. The competition and the quality of the match are also very good. In fact, last year's final reached the third game. That's the main reason," said Junas.
IBL GoPay 2026 is projected to present increasingly even competition. The more mature preparation of the club, the improvement of the quality of local and foreign players, and the development of the game strategy make every match predicted to be full of drama until the end of the season.
Head of Marketing GoPay, Kelvin Timotius, expressed his pride to be able to be part of the IBL journey. He emphasized their commitment to supporting the growth of the national basketball ecosystem.
"In the 2026 IBL season, GoPay presents the IBL feature in the GoPay application which allows fans to check the match schedule, follow the voting, and play basketball hoops games to get free prizes every day," said Kelvin.
The strategic collaboration between Bank Mandiri and IBL which has been established since 2025 is also being strengthened. This cooperation includes various sustainable programs, ranging from coaching young athletes to developing basketball communities in various regions.
Bank Mandiri Corporate Secretary, Adhika Vista, hopes that the synergy can make a real contribution to the progress of the league and the achievements of national basketball.
"We hope that IBL will be more competitive, provide quality entertainment for the community, and be able to produce talented athletes who can make Indonesia famous in the international arena," said Adhika.
The other three matches on the first day of the 2026 IBL are Hangtuah Jakarta vs Bogor Hornbills, the Knights of Bengawan Solo vs RANS Simba Bogor, and Pelita Jaya and Dewa United Banten.
Pelita Jaya and Dewa United were last season's finalists from the highest level basketball league in Indonesia. Their clash in the best-of-three format last year was won by Dewa United, which was their first title in the league.
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