Following on from the publication of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Basketball’s inquiry report into basketball, which calls for a rethink in the way basketball is funded in the UK, British former NBA star John Amaechi has said money is not the only answer.
“Whilst the UK Sport Funding model is asinine, the truth is that we need people within the sport who can take money when it’s there, forward to the right end,” he said to Bob Ballard on TalkSport radio.
“There are two angles that we have to work on, one, trying to amend the way that funding is given, and two making sure that we have the structures and people in place who can take that money and use it well for the benefit of our young people.”
Amaechi took to Twitter on Friday to blast the APPG inquiry report, calling it a “BBL promotional document”:
I’m sorry, the #BBallAPPG is a BBL promotional document, not a solution for the current problems, many of them propagated by those same ppl.
— John Amaechi OBE (@JohnAmaechi) July 18, 2014
A number of the conclusions of the report recommended greater influence of BBL affiliated programmes and products, like the BBL Foundation and BBL TV. While Amaechi remained incredibly critical of the UK Sport funding model, which has a “no compromise” approach that focuses on medal hopes, normally in sports with less competition and more opportunities to win, he also does not want to see public money going to bodies who historically have failed in their ability to deliver.
“The infrastructure of basketball and many of the people who have been in leadership positions (in basketball) for the last 40 years are just so terrible, that I don’t want any public money to go to them,” he said.
“There is a way that basketball can move forward, I think it’s time that people realised that this is a moment for introspection. This is a moment for the sport to look at itself and really examine who the people are that have been over-promising and under delivering four about 30 or 40 years and deciding if they want them to take the sport forward or if they want to find new people to take the sport forward.” Listen to the full interview below:
1 Comment