Basketball: Decision time looms for governing body

Friday 25 May 2012

The sport's governing body in Scotland has launched a consultation on whether to give up its independence and merge into a Britain-wide organisation.

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Mark Woods

However, Basketball Scotland officials admit they might not be able to come up with a binding decision before the deadline imposed by FIBA, the world governing body, who have given England, Wales and Scotland until June 30 to decide whether they want to compete as Great Britain at all levels after the Olympics or split back into three separate teams.

With the two options causing a split in opinion, Kevin Pringle, chief executive of Basketball Scotland, concedes that consensus will be hard to find. "We have a board meeting in June to decide our position, so time is short," he said. "The consultation process won't be definitive because whatever happens, we'd have to discuss it with sportscotland and other interested parties. If there's no clear direction, then we'll have to see where we take it. But we've laid out the key issues involved in the two options on whether we stay in or go back out."It has been estimated that opting out of retaining a GB team would cost the sport nationally around £10m per year, as well as eliminating any hope of qualifying for future Olympics. However, critics fear it would limit opportunities for young Scots to test themselves in the international arena.

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Basketball: Decision time looms for governing body

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