Seven British Basketball Federation directors quit on Friday, a day after heads of the Home Country Associations "moved to remove regulatory powers of the governing body" during a "hostile" meeting to discuss a new budget, according to Shrivathsa Sridhar of REUTERS. British basketball "has struggled for funding in recent years" and is "dependent on government grants routed through UK Sport to help its teams to play matches." The directors, led by Ed Warner, resigned after a "hastily arranged general meeting." Warner said in a statement, "Following yesterday's peremptory, unconstitutional actions by the HCA chairs, my six independent director colleagues and I have decided to resign from the board of British Basketball with immediate effect" (REUTERS, 7/6). The BBC's Katie Falkingham reported British Basketball claimed its teams will "suffer diminished support and prospects" after a new budget was set for the sport. It said that most of its powers had been "effectively removed" by the HCAs, which called a meeting with "just an hour's notice." The BBF and the HCAs of England, Scotland and Wales "have been engaged in ongoing disputes over funding." The BBF claimed the HCAs "refused to enter talks on Thursday, in which the BBF's budget proposals would be discussed, cancelling with eight minutes' notice before calling the general meeting." There, it "stripped" the federation of its regulatory powers (BBC, 7/5).
