England Basketball and Basketball Scotland have agreed to merge with British Basketball, post 2012.
This means that both England and Scotland will give up their independent statuses in 2016 and join forces to improve the state of the game in Britain after the Olympic Games in London. Basketball Wales rejected the offer of the merger two weeks ago.
This move means that there will be a Great Britain side after 2012 and that the British Basketball League plus a new women’s league will be part of a new revamped set-up in the country.
FIBA has backed England and Scotland’s decision and it will now go to UK Sport for approval despite Wales’ decision to reject the suggested proposals.
“Beyond 2016, England Basketball as an entity will still exist, and will have a relationship with FIBA through the affiliation of the BBF,” England Basketball Chairman Terry Donovan said.
Donovan also said that despite the new changes, England and Scotland will compete seperately at under-16 level until 2020 and that they will also enter as two nations at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland.
Basketball Scotland chief executive Kevin Pringle agreed to the decision because he believed it would help the future of the sport in Scotland.
“We still have to get some clarity on how the new body will be recognised because of the Welsh decision,” he admits. “But we all took our decisons independently. We felt that going down the British Basketball route is the best for Scotland and for the future of the sport.”
