Exclusive: Super League Basketball chair Sanjay Bhandari brands London and Manchester brawl "unacceptable", plus referees latest
Super League Basketball chair Sanjay Bhandari MBE has described the ugly scenes that marred Sunday’s Cup final between London Lions and Manchester as “unacceptable” and pledged that the league is working to make its disciplinary process more transparent going forward.
Players, coaches and even the general managers of both the Lions and Manchester teams spilled onto the court with eight seconds remaining of Sunday’s showpiece occasion at the AO Arena.
Brawling players from both sides were then ejected by the match officials and Manchester’s players refused to return to the court to receive their runners-up medals, as is the custom in British sport.
It continues a growing trend of ill-discipline in a league still finding its feet in the aftermath of the collapse of backers 777 Partners in the summer of 2024.
Sheffield Sharks’ owner Vaughn Millette helped save the league and together with the other eight clubs formed Super League Basketball, but he had to step down as league chairman following allegations he made against a leading referee on social media last March.
Bhandari, who has held similar positions in other sports such as tennis, football and athletics, was appointed chair in July.
He told The Yorkshire Post: “Passion and rivalry is part and parcel of elite sport. What happened at the SLB Cup final crossed the line into unacceptable behaviour. It will be addressed as part of our usual disciplinary process.
“The Match Officials administered in-game sanctions in accordance with FIBA regulations. An independent Disciplinary Panel will now review the actions of individuals involved and consider any further necessary action.”
What are the next steps
London Lions host Sheffield Sharks in a SLB regular-season game on Wednesday night with those players involved in the fracas on Sunday eligible to play. Once the disciplinary process is complete, any bans come in to force seven days after the club is notified, and the club has an option to appeal.
Bhandari is involved in discussions across the sport about the future direction of basketball in the wake of the collapse of the British Basketball Federation before Christmas.
He appreciates there are lessons the professional league itself needs to address.
“We will conduct a routine review of disciplinary processes at the end of the season as part of the annual cycle of performance development across all areas of the game,” said Bhandari, who confirmed the match was officiated by referees with current or recent FIBA or international experience.
“As part of that process, we will specifically consider the speed and transparency of decisions.
“We’ve still got a lot of things to do in terms of commercial, facilities, talent development, players, coaches, match officials. Even mature sports struggle with transparency around decision-making and there’s been some high-profile instances in football quite recently.
“The principle of transparency is the right one; how we get there and having the right resources to do that is the next step. I can’t promise there’ll be an answer today or tomorrow, but it’s on the pathway and all part of the process of how you become a mature sport.”
Referee situation
SLB accredited referees went on strike this time last year in the wake of Millette’s allegations, and while many are now back working, some have not returned.
“Most of those referees are available,” said Bhandari. “It’s fair to say we’ve resolved those conflicts around referees. I can’t comment on individual cases or refereeing issues, but part of the development pathways we’re interested in exploring is with officials.
"The growth of the sport isn’t just about the playing side, it’s also about the infrastructure and the match officials and how we develop existing match officials and new match officials and build that roster.”