BBF refuse endorsement of Manchester for BCL Qualifiers

By Sam Neter on June 17, 2025

The feud between Super League Basketball (SLB) and the British Basketball Federation (BBF) has escalated, with the federation rejecting Manchester Basketball’s application to the Basketball Champions League; shutting the door on what would have been the city’s first European club appearance in over 35 years.

“As FIBA’s National Member Federation, the BBF will only endorse clubs competing in our officially sanctioned National Championship competitions,” the rejection email read.

“Since notification of termination of the license held by Super League Basketball Ltd. (SLB) has been issued, Manchester does not currently meet this requirement for the 2025/26 season.

“We are therefore unable to consider endorsement at this time.”

The decision might be easier to justify if the GBBL – the group recently granted the licence – were preparing to launch next season, but they’ve publicly confirmed they won’t tip off until 2026–27.

That leaves a swirl of question marks surrounding the coming season, with – as it stands – no officially licensed league planning to operate.

“We believe their refusal is legally indefensible and morally outrageous,” Ben Pierson, co-owner and President of Manchester Basketball, told Hoopsfix.

“It is a clear restriction of trade and it is a clear violation of competition laws.

“I/our lawyers believe the BBF’s position is unlawful on multiple grounds, something presumably BBF would like to debate. There’s no debating the ethical disgrace. This decision betrays the sport, the athletes, and the fans.”

Manchester are now preparing for legal action – something already advancing from the SLB toward BBF over the licensing process.

“If they do not reverse their illegal and immoral stance, we will litigate,” Pierson added.

The BCL are understood to have extended the entry deadline for Manchester until the end of the day on Monday, with the club hoping the BBF would back down but there was no response to their communications, meaning Manchester have missed the deadline for entry to the FIBA competition.

The club is now looking at alternative means to play in Europe via other competitions whose entry deadlines have not yet passed, including the EuroCup which falls outside of FIBA jurisdiction.

The BBF have been contacted for comment.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix