The British Basketball Federation is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy as the crisis in the sport deepens.

The Great Britain’s women's squad was assembled on Thursday in the wake of their World Cup qualifying victory over Switzerland in Manchester 24 hours earlier and told of the dire situation at the BBF and that, as a result, UK Sport would be channelling its investment into the game through Basketball England.

It follows a report in this newspaper last Saturday that the BBF was on the brink of going into administration as the damaging repercussions of its award of the licence to run the men’s professional league to a group of external investors, the high court battle to defend that action against Super League Basketball (SLB), and FIBA’s sanctions, are felt.

UK Sport has declined to comment. Their position throughout the uncertainty of the last few months has been on protecting public money (the funding body awarded the BBF £2.925m last December for the LA28 cycle) and making sure GB athletes and teams can continue to compete internationally.

Great Britain women's players during an international at the Copper Box in 2024 (Picture: Henry Browne/Getty Images)

placeholder image — Great Britain women's players during an international at the Copper Box in 2024 (Picture: Henry Browne/Getty Images)

GB women’s World Cup qualifier away to Austria on Saturday is going ahead.

The Yorkshire Post understands UK Sport is involved alongside other stakeholders in staging the GB men’s team’s opening FIBA World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at London’s Copper Box on Thursday, November 27. Lithuania is one of the most successful, and best-followed teams in the European game and the fixture is a potential money-spinner for the sport.

That game has now been given the go-ahead after FIBA had initially banned the British men’s team from playing as part of its taskforce’s sanctions against the BBF following its investigation into the civil war in the sport.

That was sparked by the BBF’s awarding of an exclusive licence to Marshall Glickman’s GBB League in the Spring, which SLB - the existing league that includes Sheffield Sharks - reacted angrily to, a position it maintained throughout, including taking legal action.

FIBA recently gave recognition to the SLB, something that competition - owned with an equal share by its member clubs - has craved.

What that means for the future of the controversial start-up GBB League, which won the licence to run the men’s league from 2026 but then put that back 12 months in an attempt to align with the incoming NBA Europe, has not been clarified.

The GBB League said in the wake of the resignation of BBF chair Chris Grant, a huge ally of theirs, that their licence agreement was with the BBF.

FIBA and the GBB League have been contacted for comment on that matter.