Commonwealth basketball cancelled 04/02/2010 |
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This year's Commonwealth Basketball Championships, due to be staged in Delhi in August, have been cancelled by world governing body FIBA.
More Than The Games reports that the cancellation is related to a crowded international schedule, rather than the security situation which has made headlines in the run up to the Commonwealth Games itself, which takes place in Delhi in October.
The basketball tournament was not directly connected with the Games, which is being held in India for the first time, but the decision represents a setback for organisers.
There has been speculation that Australia requested a postponement of the Commonwealth basketball tournament until 2011.
A FIBA spokesman said: "The major national federations of the Commonwealth have experienced difficulty with the scheduling of the national team programmes as Australia, Canada and New Zealand have all qualified for the FIBA World Championship in Turkey, while England – as part of Great Britain – will compete in the European Championships qualification series.”
However, Keith Mair, chief executive of England Basketball, revealed that he was disappointed with the decision.
"We always knew we wouldn't have access to the Great Britain players.
"Four years ago, using squads of similar construction, we went to the Commonwealth Games and won two bronze medals.
"So we were hoping that the Commonwealth championships would be on. Clearly, FIBA wanted a tournament with the top players in it."
There are no plans for the basketball to be included in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where hockey, netball and rugby sevens will be the team sports.
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