The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has suspended the British national basketball team from international competition amid the ongoing dispute between the British Basketball Federation (BBF) and its teams.
Following talks with the UK government, FIBA took action against the BBF and its national team to temporarily suspend its licence to compete in international competitions.
This throws into question the status of whether the Great Britain national basketball team will be able to compete in its first 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games, against Lithuania on November 27 and Italy on November 30.
FIBA said in a statement: “Following a comprehensive review of the situation, including interviews and meetings with basketball stakeholders, the taskforce has submitted its recommendations to the FIBA executive committee, which decided today as follows:
“To temporarily suspend the British Basketball Federation’s authority to licence or recognise national men’s competitions and to field a men’s national team in FIBA senior competitions, pending resolution of the current governance issues.
“To authorise the taskforce to engage directly with basketball stakeholders and the UK government to explore and propose an interim operational framework for the top-tier men’s national competitions. These measures aim to restore regulatory integrity and promote sustainable governance of men’s basketball in Great Britain as soon as possible.”
The 2025 saga of British Basketball
The British Basketball League (BBL) rebranded to Super League Basketball (SBL) in July 2024 after the BBL’s primary investors 777 Partners collapsed and were unable to continue to fund the league.
Nine teams from the BBL helped co-found the SBL, which is still currently in the midst of its inaugural season.
However, in January 2025, the BBF awarded the licence rights for Britain’s top-flight basketball league to a US consortium led by EuroLeague advisor Marshall Glickman across the next 15 years.
The SBL released a statement shortly after, revealing it had not been approached “at any time” by the BBF over the licence rights, despite being listed as key stakeholders during the tender process.
The nine SLB teams have since refused to join the proposed new league under Glickman’s ownership, with the US businessman stating in May 2025 that the teams have “not been willing to engage”.
The BBF has continually defended itself and denied claims there was no wrongdoing during the tender process. It is believed that Glickman’s consortium would invest upwards of £15m ($20.1m) during the first two years of its ownership.
Despite this, the Glickman group, according to the SBL, currently has “no clubs, fans, arenas or expertise”.
However, another stunning twist in the saga occurred when the SBL was hit with legal action by 18 former employees of the BBL for unfair dismissal in September 2025, as well as unpaid wages allegedly worth up to millions of pounds and a breach of contract.
BBL staff allege they have not been paid nor kept their jobs despite the SBL running with the same teams and commercial deals – with some being announced after the BBL collapsed – since the league began last September.
A hearing is scheduled for July 2026.
British Basketball funding issue?
The removal of the Great Britain basketball team from FIBA international competition also raises fresh concerns over funding of the game in the country.
The BBF must comply with UK government standards governed by UK Sport and Sport England in order to secure funding from either the government or the national lottery.
This, however, throws into question the status of the UK government’s recent announcement of the joint investment pledge alongside the NBA of a combined £10m.
Split 50/50, the UK government and the NBA’s investment will fund grassroots basketball across the country from 2026-2028, developing multi-sports facilities, access to the sport and grassroots programmes.
There are also widespread reports the NBA Europe league could launch as soon as the 2027/28 season, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. He has been holding talks with relevant European politicians and football clubs to test the waters of their involvement in the proposed league.
