Well Adelaide was one of them over the cap.

Half-serious suggestion: Get them all using online accounting software (e.g., Xero) that allows partners to securely login remotely - e.g., the NBL to remotely audit clubs.

Number 44 that was clearly pointed out by raider.

"Now that we have gotten rid of two major salary cap cheats, well lets face it, every team was cheating the cap except one, hawks probably would of if they could of?"

Perhaps you would be better off bringing the appropriate criminal charges against the first CEO who signs a stat dec on behalf of a club and is then found to be in cheating. It remains a criminal offence in this country to knowingly sign a stat dec when you know its statement to be untrue.

Unfortunately, the online accounting thing is unlikely to work -- its the off books stuff that is most likely to be the methodology of cheating.

Make it if you get caught cheating the salary cap you lose draft picks for the next 3 years.

HO, that suggestion was more to allow the NBL to ensure that clubs were doing OK rather than first hearing about it from a press release when they were going under.

Came across Xero recently and would use it if I were starting a business or my accountant had some experience with it.

Stat dec idea is interesting - telling players they should be aware of the potential of that could scare the majority into playing to the rules in the event they are over the maximum player payment line (which is where a lot of the trouble arises, IMO).

top two teams will be audited fully, any breach will be fined 200% of difference and removed from results for that season plus have penalty imposed for following.

HO- I like it.

What about the clubs living up to 'beefing up the front office', in my experience it is 'thining out of the front office' that is first on the adgenda, when clubs are struggling, what is being put in place to make sure that all parts of the ball club is running to it's potential?

"It is fine for teams to say yep, we are in. But how are we to know that clubs are truly committed to putting things in place to make sure that things run right."

Now you partly know why it's taken this long to decide which clubs have made steps towards compliance.
As for the penalty for cheating the cap, it's broken up into several sections:

53. Player Payments Investigator
53.1 The Board shall appoint one or more Player Payments Investigators ("the Investigator") and
vest them with such powers in addition to the powers set forth in this Rule as it believes is
necessary for them to carry out investigations under these rules..
53.2 An Investigator appointed under Rule 53.1 shall be independent of BA and all of the NEW NBL
Clubs and Players. In the event that the Investigator is unable to carry out his duties, BA shall
appoint an alternate investigator.
53.3 The Board shall allocate such funds as are required from time to time to remunerate the
Investigator.
53.4 The principal functions of the Investigator shall be to carry out investigations, examinations
and audits of the accounts of NEW NBL Clubs at the direction of the Chief Executive Officer and
to report to him whether breaches of the Players Payments Limits have occurred. In addition,
the Investigator may perform such other functions of an investigative nature as he is directed
to do by the Chief Executive Officer.
54. Provision of information to Player Payments Investigator.
54.1 Each NEW NBL Club, NEW NBL Club Affiliate, Player and Player Associate and every director,
officer and employee thereof shall upon request by the Investigator:
(a) co-operate with the Investigator in the course of any investigation;
(b) answer truthfully any question asked of him by the Investigator in the course of an
investigation;
(c) provide to the Investigator any contract, receipt, invoice, account, cheque, book of
account, or other document in his or its possession or under its control which is in the
opinion of the Investigator relevant to the investigation;
(d) Where the Chief Executive Officer, after receiving a report from the Investigator, is of
the opinion that there is a strong suspicion that there has been a breach of these
Rules, he may request the Player provide a true copy of income tax returns and
assessments which are relevant to the investigation and those documents shall be
provided by the player
Penalty for failure to comply: Where a Player fails to comply with a request
pursuant to Rule 54.1(d) he shall be liable for
suspension for a period not exceeding four NEW NBL
matches or a fine not exceeding $10,000.

56 Penalty for breach of Player Payments Limit
56.1 If a NEW NBL Club breaches the Player Payments Limit it will:
(a) Lose the right to compete in the next finals series (in the current
season or the next season);
(b) Be required to pay to BA a fine of up to $250,000;
(c) Have its Player Payments Limit for the year following the year in which the fine is
finalised reduced by fifty percent of the amount by which the Player Payments Limit
was exceeded.
(d) Where the NEW NBL Club exceeded in a year the Player Payments Limit by more than
$20,000.00, it shall be prohibited from registering in the year following the year in
which the fine is finalised a player registered with another NEW NBL Club in the year
in which the fine was finalised.

As for ensuring clubs are actively promoting the game:

Section 8  Player Development Work and Training Commitments
60. Development Work
60.1 Each NEW NBL Club will work cooperatively with the recognised State Basketball Association
and any relevant local associations to produce a "Community Engagement Plan" for the joint
delivery of development programs, school programs, the national Aussie Hoops program and
national education programs.
60.2 The NEW NBL Club will not establish any independent program aimed at engagement with the
local Basketball community or schools without the written approval of the BA.
60.3 Each NEW NBL Club shall ensure that each of the players on their Active Players List appears
on behalf of and at the request of the NEW NBL Club for promotion and development work.
60.4 Each NEW NBL Club shall nominate each week times that are free of training of any
description for the purpose of promotional work for, community based programs and the
development of the game of basketball in the community
60.5 NEW NBL Clubs shall use their best endeavours to notify players of the timing of their
commitments in advance via the monthly and weekly schedules or via direct communication
with the player..
Penalty on NEW NBL Club for Failure to Implement their approved Community Participation
Program: A maximum fine of up to $10,000
61. Training Commitments
61.1 NEW NBL Clubs can structure their training commitments based on demands of BA and the
New NBL Schedule, the coaching philosophy of the coach and club and the availability of
venues and local resources. They should however reflect the following principles.
(a) Training requirements should acknowledge the important role that promotion and
game development are to the success of the new NBL and the game of basketball with
sufficient time being allowed to do so;
(b) The development of a career or vocation outside of basketball is important for all
Players and training requirements should support a Player's educational, and
vocational or work commitments.
(c) training requirements on any particular day where possible should occur between the
hours of 9am to 5 pm and should be scheduled regularly and where possible at the
same time on each day.
(d) Each NEW NBL Club shall notify its Players of its training program and schedule prior
to the commencement of the NEW NBL season. It is the responsibility of each player
to notify his NEW NBL Club of any study or work obligations which will impact upon his
NEW NBL Club's training program.
Penalty on NEW NBL Club for Failure to Implement an appropriate and responsible
training program: A maximum fine of up to $10,000.

(e) Each NEW NBL Club shall notify its Players of their training program and schedule
(including compulsory activities under Rule 62.1) by the 15th of each month, for the
following month.
Penalty for Failure to provide monthly schedules: $100 each day the information is
late
62. Compulsory Activities
62.1 The following activities are regarded as compulsory activities and must be attended by all
players unless the prior consent of the Chief Executive Officer has been obtained:
(a) End of season New NBL Club event. (MVP, Ball etc);
(b) Team/individual photo sessions, including for sponsors
(c) Media/sponsor "get-together" at training venue or NEW NBL Club office;
(d) Season launch;
(e) NEW NBL launch;
(f) NEW NBL All Stars events;
(g) NEW NBL Pre-Season Tournament;
(h) Autograph sessions at games;
(i) Media interviews ;
(j) Open team training nights;
(k) Team barbecue, golf days, etc;
(l) Exhibition/practice games/special training sessions.
62.2 Each NEW NBL Club shall provide to the Chief Executive Officer, a copy of the monthly
schedules for each Player.
Penalty for Failure to lodge Monthly Schedules with BA: $100 each day the information is
overdue.

The Business Plan should also detail your preferred organisational structure
(including job descriptions and KPIs). BA believes the following key positions need
to be filled. If these positions are not in the organisational structure then details are
to be provided on how these various responsibilities will be handled:
(a) CEO
(b) Sales and marketing manager /Sales executives
(c) Ticketing manager
(d) Ticket sales staff
(e) Media manager
(f) Accounts
(g) Operations
(h) Team operations
(i) Finance manager

This is just a quick summary I've cut and pasted, if you have more specific questions, let me know and I'll dig a little deeper for you.

How are we to no clubs are committed to running things properly, we don't but some set up's are better than others and I believe a board of 7 when they have all put their own money up has a much better chance than 1 person doing what he wants and throwing more money into the game than the game can afford

Wayne, your question is answered in the above posts.
The criteria will be enforced, there will be spot checks and regular audits and fines for non-compliance.
Part of the to-ing and fro-ing that is going on now (time delay) is in getting these clubs that have been named compliant in the above areas.

Thanks HAHA, you were right in a previous thread as I only have part of the criteria.
I have always had a problem with the business plan as it does not write into it a JDO (eg Rugby League, AFL clubs), someone responsible for the delivery of the programs in schools....IMO this is vital as players while confident and capable to deliver programs in schools, rarely approach it with passion.
Hopefully clubs will understand this and comply.

BA have actually been trying to do this with the clubs in question, but the players have complained that they don't like the hours etc that have been proposed by BA (1 hr a day or something piddly) and have taken it to the Players Association.
I will never get my head around this sport that complains about doing something that requires so little of their time, but promotes the game, thereby taking some much needed pressure off owners to provide money back into the club and players pockets by promoting the game.
As several are now starting to agree, the lines of who is in charge here, who is trying to make things better, who is dragging their feet, who is sweating small stuff and who is being victims of their own creation, is of question.
This isn't just the players' game- it's everybody's, and if they're worried about their futures but don't want to promote the game like other sports who do, then what the hell are they doing here and expecting to change?
It's really frustrating.

Why not treat it like drugs in sport. Make the player responsible for themselves but back it up with fines if club knowingly assisted?

Here is an example of how it could work. Payment of undeclared salary should result in player being suspended from all FIBA endorsed leagues for 1 month for each percentage paid above declared amount. e.g. if contract lodged with NBL says player on $100k but later found to be paid $120k then suspended for 20 months. This should be matched with a club fine of double the overpayment. Also to cover players at end of career (i.e. where suspension means nothing) then a fine of double the breach should also apply to any player that is not registered in a FIBA endorsed league within 6 months of end of NBL season.

All the player needs to make sure is that they are paid in accordance with their contract. If in doubt (eg wife has job with club)then onnus on player to clarify with NBL.

All income is taxable, so there for if they receive money from 3rd parties then they must declare it to the govt...this would be a fair way to look at what players are getting...
it breaks down when 3rd parties are paying for rent and cars and phones, but again at some point who ever pays for it, it has to go thru a book somehow..

the taxation dept of australia are needed to have an acticve role in this...

Player payments will already be linked to the ATO- the ATO will already have involvement in this.

guys, people don't get around salary cap by providing a separate income. they do it in ways like this....

I own a block of land. its valued at 250k, but the rates valuation is 175k. I sell to the player at 175k, he sells the block at auction for 240k. He might incur a capital gain, but he's well ahead.

I put the takings from the car park in a brown paper bag and hand that to the player at the every home game.

Player A wins the clubs cash raffle ... miraculously

Player A gets a sign-on fee, which is a gift from a sponsor in the form of a good, rather than cash.

Or quite simple, i have a 75k contract, but am guaranteed an extra 10k across the course of the year and the chairman gives me 1k per month cash.

Whatever....there are a bunch of ways of this not appearing on the books, in his tax etc. You just need willing parties on the other side prepared to foot the bill in some way.

HO nobody remembers saying the system can't be rorted (perhaps in ways a bit more relevant than your example above) and no system is fool-proof.
The point that most can see is that it's a step in the right direction, and better than the system of nothing, which we've had for some time.

HAHA - my point really is that the involvement of the ATO (the nbl used to have the right to inspect a players tax return) is not relevant given the much more creative, and in some ways legal means of avoiding the $ cap.

Interesting HAHA how many people here are advocates of strict policing of the salary cap, but were probably the same people who squealed loudest when Adelaide were fined (from memory in 1998) for dodgy player appearances type stuff.

The NBL had great teeth in the past for policing and punishing. When it chose not to use them was when it got itself into a lot of trouble - al la what happend with the 1994 championship giants team - really, the club should have been stripped of the title.

"I put the takings from the car park in a brown paper bag and hand that to the player at the every home game." HO....


HO- AH, the car park money! an Adelaide tradition I am told....Maybe they should have put this revenue into the club where it belonged instead of pissing it up the wall to fund a certain player's house(s) or enticing imports to play, when realistically they would not have been able to afford them.
Times your car park money by the number of years that the sixers have moved from appollo and you will have a fair figure, maybe enough to keep the sixers strong in 2009.
I could be wrong....just an observation.

The cost of preventing the many and varied ways of making additional payments will always be cost prohibitive. That is why you need to focus on the penalty side. i.e. if you get caught then there needs to be a penalty that is large enough to stop the initial indiscretion.
Clubs that find the dollars to make the payments will also be able to find the dollars for any fine. That is why the penalty needs to be something else. For players it needs to be stopping them from playing. For clubs it will need to be something like loss of points etc.

Sounds like they need to go after the root cause - and it seems pretty clear the reason why clubs do it is to ensure a higher placing in the comp and to attract players to improve their profile.

Easy solution - loose competition points for cheating and make sure EVERYONE knows they're cheating - make it public - instead of acting like it never happens. They'll quickly sort themselves out...