BOARD EXITS HIT BASKETBALL ENGLAND

Days after Basketball England confirmed they may strip the BBL of their operating licence, it has been revealed that the three independent directors of the governing body have resigned.

And in a double whammy, Sport England have stated that the Sheffield-based organisation is to remain on limited funding while its internal governance remains under review.

MVP can confirm that Ameesh Manek, Andrew Ryan and Rick Boomgaardt have left their board positions with their posts re-advertised with immediate effect.

The trio, all touted for their commercial and corporate expertise, were all appointed in November 2012. None were immediately reachable for comment.

It has also been announced that Sport England, the government agency with responsibility for grassroots and development, will keep BE on its current short-term financial support package, having taken the radical step of handing part of its grant to third-party agencies last January.

A further review will take place in March but it is to demand changes to its oversight procedures, a process which could be complicated by losing a flurry of directors in a single swoop.

“There have been delays in clearing up outstanding governance issues which we need to resolve,” a Sport England spokesperson said.

“We need more time for them to go through those and resolve them. But we are trying to work with them to clear those up.”

In Sport England’s latest participation figures compiled through its Active People Survey, the number of individuals playing basketball in England on a weekly basis suffered a huge 15.25% drop from 2013 to 2014, a regression from 154,700 to 131,100 that could also hit Basketball England’s standing.

In a statement, SE declared: “Governing bodies that have failed to meet their agreed targets for increasing the number of people regularly playing their sport could see up 20% of their future funding invested in other organisations that can deliver their sport.”