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BBF ACCELERATE NEW LOOK FOR SPORT

The new British Basketball Federation will decide on the future of the UK professional league license as it prepares to reform the sport.

Confirmation that Basketball England have been stripped of the role comes as the BBF’s new board met for the second time with the sport’s commercial future also high on the agenda.

In a statement, it was revealed that an outside mediator is to be appointed to develop a joint approach between the three home nations in Britain to draw up a strategy aimed at “maximising the income, profile and success of the sport at every level, by working together to deliver against an overall agreed long-term plan.”

It is proposed that the concept would be completed by next spring but it will run in tandem with sanctioning new league structures to begin next season, involving consultation with both the existing BBL and WBBL clubs, while also examining a joint approach to TV and commercial rights.

The move has received initial backing from FIBA Secretary-General Patrick Baumann who has been among the most vocal critics of the way the sport has failed to generate a legacy from the 2012 Olympics in London.

“FIBA is fully supportive of the approach that the BBF Board is adopting,” Baumann said. “And we encourage all parties to engage with the BBF in the interest of the sport.”

It was also confirmed that, despite the withdrawal of UK Sport funding, money has been found to ensure Great Britain’s senior and Under-20 teams take part in European competition in 2016.

However, the position of men’s coach Joe Prunty is now under question with the BBF announcing that an announcement will be made shortly about the American’s future. “Nothing has been ruled in or out,” said a source, with the level of back-up funding available through Sport England likely to be a factor in retaining the Milwaukee Bucks associate head coach.

The BBF is to return to UK Sport to apply for funding headed up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with one eye also on the introduction of GB U16 and U18 teams from the 2017 European Championships, replacing the separate England, Wales and Scotland squads.

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