Basketball England Reveal Professional License Review Panel

By Sam Neter on February 5, 2015

Basketball England directors Jeff Jones and Mark Clark, along with independent members Lord Wasserman, Jane Aldred and Martin Henlan will make up the panel that will oversee the professional license review being carried out by Basketball England, it was announced today.

The board of Basketball England took the decision to amend the terms of reference for the committee to enable the inclusion of Lord Wasserman as the committee’s head. Previously four members, there will now be five who will conduct the initial review of the licence; two from the Basketball England Board and three independent appointments who are expected to offer a wealth of experience and knowledge in areas relevant to the review process.

“We’re delighted we can appoint such a wealth of experience in the key aspects of the professional licence review in the independent board members chosen,” Jeff Jones, elected board member of Basketball England and the licence review committee commented.

“We’re thankful to them for giving up their time to contribute to the process and we’re confident we can reach a conclusion which we can all agree will benefit the sport and drive it forward to the next level.”

Head of the committee, Gordon Wasserman, is an internationally recognised expert in policing and criminal justice, and was the Adviser on these subjects to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary from May 2010 to March 2012. In January 2011, he joined the House of Lords as Lord Wasserman. He has been active in basketball since he played for his high school in Montreal. He served as Vice-Chairman of the English BasketBall Association (1983-85) and is now a Vice-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Basketball.

Martin Henlan joins the panel with 15 years experience playing in professional basketball and multiple caps for England and Great Britain. He has also had successful experience of launching digital and TV services and has strength in television production and international distribution of broadcast rights on all media platforms. He has a keen understanding of the opportunities across the media landscape and the revenue growth this can generate.

Finally the third independent committee member, Jane Aldred, is a solicitor at Switalskis Solicitors in Leeds. She specialises in family law, particularly children’s work and is qualified for the Law Society’s Children Panel. She has gained Higher Rights of Audience [Civil] and provides advocacy before the Family Proceedings Court, the County Court and the High Court. Jane also serves as a specialist member of The National Safeguarding Panel and is a qualified legal mediator. She is the Chair of Basketball England’s Appeals Panel and a former table official and current Chair of Jerry Clay Academy PTA.

A committee to review the professional licence was announced at the end of last month after Basketball England became aware of a potential £36million investment from a US based private equity firm.

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