Sports Minister ‘deeply concerned’ at British basketball governance crisis
Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock says she is “deeply concerned” by the governance crisis in British basketball that has seen the men’s national team frozen out of the world game.
The sanction was announced on Monday by international governing body Fiba, which has suspended the British Basketball Federation’s membership after electing to intervene in its long-running and bitter legal row with Super League Basketball.
As well as preventing the men’s GB team from competing in international competition, the move has also removed the BBF’s powers to award licences to domestic competitions – something it had refused to do for SLB this season.
“I am deeply concerned by the news that the British Basketball Federation has been suspended by Fiba and its implications for GB teams and domestic basketball,” Peacock said in a statement supplied to CityAM.
“While it is a relief that the GB Women’s team is not included in this suspension, work must clearly be done to fix the domestic game and ensure our teams can continue to compete on the world stage.
“We will work closely with Fiba and other partners on the interim operational framework, using this as a moment to move forward as we start the process of addressing governance concerns and protecting the future of British basketball.”
Government and Fiba set for talks
BBF chair Chris Grant stepped down on Sunday, 24 hours before the Fiba action was announced, citing “personal reasons”.
The suspension of the BBF also casts doubt on the 15-year licence to operate a top-tier British league it awarded to the Marshall Glickman-led GBBL earlier this year, sparking a lawsuit from SLB which remains on course for the High Court.
Fiba said on Tuesday that the BBF’s suspension was temporary, “pending resolution of the current governance issues”, and that its task force would “engage directly with basketball stakeholders and the UK government to explore and propose an interim operational framework for the top-tier men’s national competitions”.
Super League Basketball and GBBL were contacted for comment.
The UK Government has taken a closer interest in basketball, which is the second most popular team sport among the country’s young people.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer met NBA chiefs at Downing Street this summer and last month announced a joint £10m investment in grassroots with the US league.