England and Scotland will continue to see teams competing as Great Britain post-Olympics after England Basketball and basketballscotland have agreed to support the proposals for a British Basketball membership of FIBA beyond 2016.
After Basketball Wales confirmed themselves out last week, doubt was cast about the future of Great Britain basketball, but England Basketball and basketballscotland have decided to move forward without them.
At present, the home nations of Basketball Wales, Basketball Scotland, and England Basketball, are all separate entities with independent membership of FIBA, however, after London won the Olympic bid in 2005, the three were given special dispensation to compete as Great Britain for the Olympics with the formation of the British Basketball Federation. FIBA required a decision to be made on the future structure of British basketball by June 30 2012. The home nations could either unite, and be represented as GB at all levels post-2016, or separate and revert back to the structure in place before the Olympics.
The decision was submitted to FIBA at the weekend, with England Basketball and basketballscotland’s direct affiliation with the world governing body ending on 30 September 2016, subject to final confirmation by FIBA. Until then, the situation that has existed since 2006 will continue, with England and Scotland teams still participating in official European Championships at under-18 and under-16 levels, up to and including the summer of 2016. In addition, Scotland will continue to have an U16 team competing in the European Championships until 2020 to aid the development of younger players.
In the statement released on England Basketball’s website today by Chairman Terry Donovan, he said EB will still be eligible for Sport England funding, and will remain responsible for all grassroots basketball programmes in England and all the English national leagues. Meanwhile, Scotland will remain responsible for the governance, management and development of the game in Scotland.
England and Scotland will still have national teams at all age groups, including senior, except they will not participate in official FIBA competitions. The statement added that the British Basketball Federation will will construct alternative competition schedules for all home nations, at all levels.
In basketballscotland’s statement, they said:
“Having collected a substantial amount of evidence across a range of critical factors including legal considerations, political impact, membership views and opinions, performance pathways and future governance structures, the Board considered a vast amount of information at its meeting on Thursday 28 June 2012. The Independent Consultant’s report on the Membership Consultation can be viewed by clicking here.
Despite this being an extremely complex decision, with pro’s and con’s for each option, following detailed consideration of the options available, the Board was unanimous in its decision.
With responsibility to take decisions for the best interests of the Sport in Scotland, the Board decided unanimously to support the proposed future British Basketball Structure.”
For more information, read England Basketball’s full statement here, and basketballscotland’s statement here.
What do you think?! How is the future for basketball in the UK looking now?
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