Basketball England pauses CEO search amid fallout from BBF liquidation
The aftershocks of the British Basketball Federation’s slide into liquidation continue to be felt across the game, with Basketball England forced to suspend its appointment of a new CEO.
The English governing body, whose main roles are increasing participation and talent identification, is set to take on many of the BBF’s functions following its demise last week – including managing the GB men’s and women’s teams.
That is understood to have caused Basketball England to further delay appointing a long-term successor to Stewart Kellett, who stepped down in June after nine years in office.
Uncertainty remains over exactly what the remit of Basketball England and its new CEO will be in future, amid ongoing talks involving DCMS, funding bodies and what remains of the BBF.
A preferred candidate for the CEO role, which has been filled on a six-month basis by Nigel Walker since Kellett’s departure, is thought to have been identified last week.
What Basketball England said
Basketball England said: “At the moment all our efforts, in partnership with a range of other stakeholders within the sport, is to ensure that our GB men’s international commitments are met later this month, following the successful completion of the GB women’s EuroBasket qualifiers with victory over Norway on Tuesday.
“We are committed to working with partners to support any interim or transitional arrangements that are put in place while the long-term future of the governance and operation of the sport, including the GB programme, is agreed.”
Top of the agenda for national basketball chiefs is preparing GB men for their World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at the Copper Box on 27 November and a trip face Iceland three days later.
The BBF announced it was entering liquidation last Friday following a long-running and bitter legal dispute with Super League Basketball over a licence to run the domestic top division.