WARNER PITCHES INTO BASKETBALL

Ed Warner, the former chairman of UK Athletics, has been named as the Interim Chair of British Basketball.

He now faces the challenge of helping the organisation off its knees and onto a stable footing with a fight to land funding from the government.

The businessman, who also oversaw the bid and the organisation of last year’s world athletics championships in London, is understood to have demanded a review into the way the troubled sport is run as part of his remit for change following a crisis earlier this year where the Great Britain teams were almost forced to pull out of international competition due to a lack of funding.

Preparing a case to regain UK Sport backing after 2020 will sit high on Warner’s agenda but his oversight is likely to throw the spotlight on the role of the three home nations and especially under-performing Basketball England whose governance has been been placed under review on multiple occasions.

However Warner reckons the success of Scotland’s men and England’s women at the recent Commonwealth Games proves there is potential untapped.

“Basketball has genuine mass appeal and, as the recent Commonwealth Games showed, our elite teams can deliver on the world stage when given the opportunity,” he said.

“I look forward to working with my Board colleagues, the sport’s wide range of stakeholders and potential partners to ensure a sustainable, vibrant and inspiring future for the sport at the elite level.”

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