LONDON 2012: Decision day for British Basketball edges closer

BESPECTACLED Patrick Baumann looks like a nice chap, genial, urbane and very Swiss. But he's a man with a big say in a big decision. One that could have a major effect on the future of British basketball and one being carefully monitored by anxious London 2012 organisers.

TOUGH TASK: Patrick Baumann, the head of basketball's world governing, is presiding over a big decision about Great Britain's involvement in the London 2012 Olympics (Fiba)

Baumann is the general secretary of basketball's world governing body Fiba and next month his 22-strong central board, the sport's key decision makers, could effectively make or break Great Britain's Olympic dream with a little more than 500 days still to go until the opening ceremony.

In other sports, hosts are automatically invited to their own party - although the British Olympic Association are still insisting on vetting suitability, for fear of a repeat of the humiliation handed out to the 'Greek' (the use of inverted commas is deliberate) baseball team in Athens. 

Volleyball and handball recently got the go-ahead to join Team GB, while water polo is still waiting on their fate.

Olympic organisers are also desperate for a home town basketball team to be on the schedule. They've got a 12,000 seater venue to fill and tickets, preliminary rounds cost between £20 and £115, to sell for a sport whose UK league attracts usually only a few hundred spectators per fixture.

But Baumann's fear is by gifting one of the 12 prized places to Great Britain, Fiba will be denying a stronger nation their spot and weakening the whole tournament, although he concedes British Basketball has made huge strides.

It's not been an issue for some years with recent hosts of the Games - Spain (Barcelona 1992), United States (Atlanta 1996), Australia (Sydney 2000), Greece (Athens 2004) and China (Beijing 2008) all justified in claiming their place on merit.

But Fiba aren't just interested in Games time and have instructed British Basketball officials to produce a legacy plan - a challenge that is easier said than done.

Baumann, at 43 one of the youngest members of the International Olympic Committee, is keen to see a stronger club system develop and wants to see less players with tenuous British links, such as Detroit Pistons superstar Ben Gordon, who was born in London but moved to New York just a few months after he was born.

In an intriguing and recommended interview with basketball magazine MVP, the full version can be read here, Baumann admitted there had been ‘progress' on some of Fiba's concerns but hinted more assurances were still needed before decision day.

"We know and understand now where the GB men's and women's teams are from a competitive standpoint. Within the legacy standpoint, there are still many questions," he said.

He also suggested that it was possible the men, stronger on paper, could be included and the women's team (who have made huge strides under influential coach Tom Maher) excluded.

"We know and understand now where the GB men's and women's teams are from a competitive standpoint. Within the legacy standpoint, there are still many questions." Fiba general secretary Patrick Baumann, speaking with MVP magazine

And then there is the thorny issue of the home associations, at present there are national governing bodies for England, Scotland and Wales within Fiba.

Baumann wants them replaced with one British federation, exactly the fear the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FA's have about fielding a British football team and the vested interests involved in such a decision are similar.

"Right now, the three home nations are members of Fiba," he told MVP. "So we respect them and we are very proud to have them as members. We just think they need to understand what is the best governance and organisation for the sport in Britain.

"I don't know if (British basketball) will go with one or three. But it will be difficult to go with an exceptional situation where we will go with three federations but keep Team GB."

British Basketball's performance director, Chris Spice, is among those charged with driving through the required changes, telling my Sportsbeat colleague Daniel Schofield last month: "What we are seeking is a solution to enable Great Britain to continue competing beyond 2012. Otherwise we will just become England, Scotland and Wales again.

"We really could be the legacy sport of London 2012. It would give basketball such a platform in this country and there would be a massive knock-on effect in terms of numbers playing.

"We are going against the tide of devolution where more and more sports are being decentralised but it would be tragic if we could not get a British team together for 2016."

Spice and others will spend the next few weeks formulating, polishing and generally worrying over their best-laid plans - unsurprising with so much at stake.

Fiba have form - turning down Great Britain's case for a wildcard to last year's World Championships - and some aren't that confident they will be swayed by British Basketball's emotive arguments or London 2012's anguished worries about ticket sales.

The decision will be made when Fiba's central board gather in Lyon on the weekend of March 12-13. Watch this space.

---

MORE BLOGS BY SPORTSBEAT'S JAMES TONEY

Spurs increasingly look like frontrunners in Olympic Stadium battle

THE BEST OF 2010: Yu-Na and Joannie sparkle on a night of tears and cheers

LONDON 2012: Volleyball show court is same size as Wimbledon...now time to sell the tickets

European Games is a nice idea but politics make it unlikely

---