British Minister hits back in FIBA row

Britain's Minister for Sport Richard Caborn has accused basketball's international governing body FIBA of "demanding a blank cheque" in a row that could jeopardise the chances of a British team at London 2012.

FIBA have stated that Sport England, the government agency responsible for funding sport in the UK, has been guilty of "unacceptable interference" into England Basketball's affairs after it froze funding last September on the back of an independent review of the running of the sport.

"The initial findings of the Mallin review made clear that the current structure of England Basketball could not deliver on the huge potential that the game has from the grassroots up. Sport England rightly suspended their funding in light of this," Caborn said in a statement.

FIBA have set a deadline of June 15 for the situation to be resolved otherwise English teams and players will be barred from playing the qualifiers for the 2009 Euro Championships, a key step towards qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.