Japanese Basketball Association suspended by FIBA

FIBA announced on Wednesday that the Japanese Basketball Association (JBA) has been suspended from all FIBA related competitions for an unspecified amount of time.

The decision was reached after the JBA failed to meet several FIBA requested stipulations, such as restructuring the association to meet FIBA regulations, merge the NBL and the BJ-League into one Japanese Basketball Association league that meets FIBA stated rules and regulations, and finally draw up a plan for all national team after 2020.

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann said:

“FIBA regrets that the situation has reached such a point of no return. However, we are convinced that after so many years of warnings and struggle, and for the good of basketball in Japan, it is absolutely time to make important changes to the structures of the JBA and of the domestic competitions in order to fully comply with FIBA’s General Statutes and also to embrace the opportunity that the 2020 Olympic Games will provide to basketball in Japan. We want a successful Tokyo 2020 basketball tournament with the participation of the Japanese men’s and women’s national teams.”

The suspension means Japan is unable to compete in international tournaments, while the Japanese Basketball Association rescinds its place in the membership to the federation of FIBA. The ban is effective for all tiers, including the women’s team that is coming off an historic Asia Cup win in 2013. While FIBA has taken authoritative action against the JBA, the Executive Committee is sending a task force to Japan to help the association through the necessary changes in the politics and organization of the sport in the country.