The British Basketball Federation is going into liquidation as the crisis in the sport continues

The British Basketball Federation has announced that it will go into liquidation as the crisis that has engulfed the sport in Great Britain continues.

The BBF statement said it had ceased trading “due to a significant and unexpected decrease in revenue” and “unforeseen expenses that resulted in the company’s inability to meet its obligations.”

It was reported, external the BBF’s financial position was affected by legal costs incurred during its fight with the Basketball Superliga (SLB).

In April, the BBF awarded a 15-year license to run a new professional men’s competition – the Great Britain Basketball League – GBB League Ltd (GBBL).

The BBF said GBBL, a consortium led by US businessman Marshall Glickman, would provide £15m over the first two years.

However, the existing nine SLB clubs claimed that the tender process run by the governing body was “illegal and unfair” and refused to join the new league.

A week ago SLB reached an agreement with basketball’s world governing body FIBA ​​to oversee the UK’s top men’s competition.

Last month, the world governing body of basketball fiba suspended BBF over management issues.

The BBF statement added that the immediate priority is for domestic basketball players to work with Fiba “to ensure the ongoing stability and security of Great Britain national teams”, including upcoming Fiba competitions.

Fiba, which set up a task force to investigate non-compliance in British basketball in August, said it would continue to support the BBF to “rebuild its operations and secure its position as the leading body for basketball in the UK”.

UK Sport said: “We have taken strong steps during this period of uncertainty to protect public funds and help UK teams continue to compete.

“We will now work closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the basketball community to establish a way forward for the sport.”

A spokesman for the GBBL told BBC Sport that it was “working with its legal counsel to assess its options” regarding the status of the license granted by the BBF.

“Under the terms of the licence, significant sums of money have been paid to BBF and this is of great concern to GBBL,” they added.