The 2009 National Basketball League (NBL) which usually gets under way this time of the year is still on hold, as the new Ajani Williams-led administration tries to secure at least two major sponsors for the season.

In a recent interview, Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) president Williams told the Observer they are presently in negotiations with a number of prospective sponsors and were looking to seal the deals.

"Finally we have gotten good verbal from the various sponsors as to whether they will be on or not. So we're just about closing up sponsors," he revealed.

"Some new sponsors have also jumped into the mix, but we are closing out some of the major ones and we're pretty happy about that... So probably in the next few weeks we will hear something more concrete," he added.

However, Williams warned that the negotiations might probably take longer as they are trying to enhance the league and make sure that expenses are taken care of at the same time, so no special time frame has been set.

"We just have to stick to it no matter how long it takes, because we would basically settle for this or nothing."

"We are going to have more expenses and expenditures going out than coming in, and we won't be able to do due justice to the game and players."

"So the sponsorship money will fail the sport, the players and the people that work within the game if we don't do this right. So I would prefer if we wait patiently and diligently and go after the money we target," he explained.

While admitting that they may not get as much as they would want, Williams said "... As long as we get more than what we had last year... we will be able to deploy some new and innovative things," he said. But he noted that so far the sponsors have been very responsive.

"We have a tentative timeline on our table but we have to wait until we close the actual deals... It's really about tightening down the numbers and getting the final yesses."

"Some have already given the verbal yes, but it's just for the numbers to be resolved... So we're pretty much in the clear and once we tie down two of the major ones we will issue a statement," he stated.

The NBL was slated to begin in the third week in May.