British cut funding for Olympic basketball teams
Posted Feb 4, 2014 10:08 AM
LONDON (AP) -- The British government has cut funding for the country's Olympic basketball program ahead of the 2016 Games.
Basketball received 8.6 million pounds ($14 million) in the four years before the 2012 London Olympics where Britain qualified as hosts.
But UK Sport, which distributes money from the government and National Lottery, has decided basketball doesn't offer a realistic prospect of producing a medal in Rio de Janeiro.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month the London Olympics were a 'lost opportunity' and questioned why the government wasn't backing basketball.
Roger Moreland, performance chairman at British Basketball, is 'aghast' at the decision to strip funding, explaining: 'We are still on the road to Rio but we now have to qualify for EuroBasket 2015 with our hands tied behind our back.'
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