British Basketball Federation to enter liquidation

The British Basketball Federation says it will enter liquidation as the crisis engulfing the sport in the UK continues.

A statement from the BBF said it had ceased to trade “due to a significant and unanticipated reduction in income” and “unforeseen expenditure resulting in the company’s inability to meet its liabilities”.

It has been reported the BBF’s financial position had been affected by legal costs incurred during its battle with Super League Basketball (SLB).

In April, the BBF awarded a 15-year licence to run a new professional men’s competition – the Great Britain Basketball League – to GBB League Ltd (GBBL).

The BBF said GBBL, a consortium led by American businessman Marshall Glickman, would provide £15m funding in the first two years.

However, the existing nine SLB clubs claimed the tender process run by the governing body was “illegal and unjust” and refused to join the new league.

A week ago SLB reached an agreement with basketball’s world governing body Fiba to oversee the top-tier men’s competition in Great Britain.

Last month basketball’s world governing body Fiba suspended the BBF over governance issues.

The BBF statement added that the immediate priority was for domestic basketball stakeholders to work with Fiba “to ensure the ongoing stability and security of the Great Britain national teams”, including forthcoming Fiba competitions.

Fiba, which set up a taskforce in August to investigate regulatory non-compliance within British basketball, said it will continue to support the BBF to “restore its operations and secure its position as the basketball governing body in Great Britain”.

UK Sport said: “We have taken robust steps throughout this period of uncertainty to safeguard public funds and to help enable GB teams to continue to compete.

“We will now work closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the basketball community to establish a way forward for the sport.”

A spokesperson for GBBL told BBC Sport it was “working with its legal counsel to evaluate its options” relating to the status of the licence it was awarded by the BBF.