British basketball chaos continues as Fiba suspends BBF and bans men’s team

The British Basketball Federation (BBF) has been suspended by the global body Fiba and the British men’s team banned from international competition in a dramatic move that has put the sport’s funding under threat.

The Guardian has learned that Fiba has had talks with the UK government officials about the suspension, which is likely to have implications for its financial support for British basketball to the tune of £4.75million over the next four years.

Fiba’s bold step is the latest development in the extraordinary civil war that has engulfed British basketball this year. The sports minister, Stephanie Peacock, had discussions with funding agency, UK Sport, in April outlining concerns about British basketball’s governance.

All organisations seeking government or National Lottery funding must comply with UK Sport and Sport England’s code for sports governance. It sets out minimum standards regarding transparency, accountability and integrity. UK Sport is responsible for funding elite sport, with Sport England in charge of grants to the grassroots.

Fiba’s decision follows their creation of a task force in August to investigate a series of governance issues related to the BBF awarding a 15-year licence to run a new professional men’s competition, the Great Britain Basketball League, to a consortium led by the American businessman Marshall Glickman.

In a statement, Fiba said: “Following a comprehensive review of the situation, including interviews and meetings with basketball stakeholders, the Task Force has submitted its recommendations to the FIBA Executive Committee, which decided today as follows:

“To temporarily suspend the British Basketball Federation’s authority to licence or recognise national men’s competitions and to field a men’s national team in Fiba senior competitions, pending resolution of the current governance issues.

“To authorise the task force to 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. These measures aim to restore regulatory integrity and promote sustainable governance of men’s basketball in Great Britain as soon as possible.”

Fiba’s move casts further doubt over the GBB League, which had already announced a delay to its initial launch date by 12 months until September 2027 to align with the possible launch of NBA Europe. The new venture does not have any clubs, venues or commercial partners.

The immediate future for Great Britain’s men’s team is also uncertain, with a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania due to take place next month now in doubt.

In another recent development, the BBF chair, Chris Grant, resigned last weekend citing personal reasons. Grant and the BBF declined to comment.