About Us
Welcome to the Israeli Basketball Players Association website.
The Israel Basketball Players Association (IBPA) was established in 1989.
IBPA is the sole representative of professional basketball players in Israel, vis-a-vis their clubs and the Israeli basketball federation. Although only Israeli players can be members of IBPA, in matters concerning shared interests of both Israeli and foreign players, the union acts on behalf of all players in Israeli clubs. Among others, IBPA represents all players during bankruptcy and liquidations procedures, and also in matters concerning ULEB's regulations. IBPA strongly encourages all professional basketball players to contact us in any relevant matter.
Best regards
Nir Alon, Chairman
Israeli Basketball Players Association
Contact:
Agreements, rules and Information for Basketball Players:
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DISCIPLINARY RULES click here to read more
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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING click here to read more
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NATIONAL PLAYERS AGREEMENT click here to read more
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UBE - association of European Basketball Players - click here to read more
ABOUT THE ISRAEL BASKETBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
Registered non-profit Organization 580137651
General:
1. Israel Basketball Players Association was founded in Israel in 1989 and registered as a non-profit organization. The objectives of the Association are to promote basketball in Israel, encourage children, teens and adults to join the basketball industry, insert basketball into all levels of the population, form proper and ethical behavior in sport, develop international relationships with other basketball players associations abroad and more.
Currently the Association does not enjoy the status of a workers union according to Israeli labor laws. The members of the Association are members of the largest general workers union in Israel (HaHistadrut Haklalit), which represents them in universal matters concerning their employment conditions.
Members of the Association
2. The Association is comprised of approximately 400 male and female professional basketball players playing in the four major Israeli basketball leagues. Among the members one can find leading players in Israel and Europe, including the players of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and the players of the National Israeli Basketball Team. Membership in the Association is for Israeli players only.
Structure and Institutions of the Association
3. The supreme institution of the Association is the Members General Assembly. The Management Board includes 13 members, among them active top players (Omri Casspi, Matan Naor, Ido Kozikaro) as well as prominent retired players (like Shimon Amsalem and Tomer Schtienhor, Barak Peleg.). The Management Board is lead by a Chairman. Shmuuel Zisman (formerly Captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Gilad Simchoni were both Chairman of the Association, and since 2000, Nir Alon, who played in various teams, holds the position.
The Management Board is elected by the members of the Association in the Members General Assembly every two years. In addition, the Association also includes a Review Board.
In addition to the Chairman's responsibilities in the Association, the Chairman is also in charge of the Sports Division in the Histadrut Haklalit – UCAPSE ׂ(Union of Clerical, Administrative & Public Service Employees) and as part of this job the Chairman is responsible for the rights of other sports workers (for example, basketball referees, coaches etc.).
Activities of the Association
4. In the last few years, the Association has been prolifically active.
Among the activities one can find:
A. Agreements between the Israel Basketball Players Association and the Basketball Organization and/or the Supreme Male Basketball League Management to limit the number of foreign players in the League. So far, two agreements were reached between the Association and the Organization, and after the Supreme Male Basketball League Management was formed – two additional agreements were reached with the Management. In the summer of 2005, following the refusal of the Management to negotiate with the Association regarding the quota of foreign players, the players went on a hugely successful general strike that resulted in the current agreement that will remain in effect until the end of the 2010/2011 season. This agreement implements, for the first time in Israel, the Russian model, which requires all teams in the Male & Female Supreme League to include at least two local (Israeli) players on the court at any given time.
B. Implementation of a unified Code of Behavior that all basketball teams in Israel must follow. Following legal actions taken by the Association against several teams that illegally fined players, an agreement was reached between the Association, the Organization and the Management, to establish a unified Code of Behavior, which was approved by the presidency of the Association on September 8, 2004. The Code of Behavior establishes strict punishment procedures, limits the monetary fines and does not allow teams to arbitrarily deduct money from players.
C. Representation of players from the Supreme League and the National League in labor disputes, following failure of timely salary payment pay by the teams. In all cases, the salaries were eventually paid because of the involvement of the Association. In one case, the Association negotiated on behalf of the players and minimized the financial damage caused to them. Additional legal procedures are still in process in Labor Court.
D. Signing of a collective agreement with the Organization and Pension Fund " Migdal" to provide pension insurance to all the players of the National Basketball Team in favored conditions; Inclusion of all the professional players into the pension insurance and other financial benefits on the same terms as the National Teams.
E. Launch of the Israeli Basketball Players Association Website and agreements with sponsors and advertises to maintain and operate it.
F. Establishment of an institute to resolve monetary disputes of players, instead of the one that the Organization operates. The Association fights against the practice of resolving monetary disputes of players in the institutions of the Organization, in a way that hurts the players' rights. At the moment, a negotiation is taking place between the Association and the Organization to establish an arbitration mechanism which will employ judges and lawyers specializing in labor laws, to act as arbitrators when players have claims against their teams and will be able to sanction teams that are not fulfilling their legal responsibilities to their players, similar to the labor court.
G. Setting up a fund in the name of Yehoshua Rosin for the encouragement of the Israeli player and producing an all-star game called "No Violence on Our Court". The game was also the farewell game for Nadav Henefeld and Shimon Amsalem, both former captains and players of the National Team. The game, which was broadcasted on the Sports Channel, attracted thousands of spectators and was very successful.
H. Agreement for the distribution of pictures of players for a children's collection album, for the purpose of raising money for activities of the Association, benefiting the players.