The British & Irish Basketball Federation (BIBF) was formed in 1960 from funding from the
Sports Council. Northern Ireland began to be represented by
Basketball Ireland, and in 2004 Ireland left the BIBF. In October 2004 the BIBF changed its name to Great Britain Basketball. In December 2006 the British Basketball Federation (BBF) was formed, and GB teams replaced England in the U20 and senior age groups in
FIBA competitions. In order for GB teams to compete in the London Olympics in 2012, FIBA insisted that a single governing body for Great Britain be formed, rather than the existing three separate home nations. England, Scotland and Wales continued to compete separately in youth competitions.
Basketball Wales rejected a full merger in 2012, so the new governing body was initially formed by just England Basketball (now
Basketball England) and
basketballscotland. Wales eventually agreed to join the new federation in 2015. The merger was formally completed in October 2016, and the home nations gave up their individual memberships of FIBA. Great Britain national teams now compete in all age groups from U16 to senior, with Scotland and Wales still able to field separate teams in some lower division youth competitions. The federation is based in the offices of
UK Sport. In April 2025, the British Basketball Federation signed a 15-year deal with Marshall Glickman's GBB League Ltd (GBBL) to operate the men's professional league from 2026. In October 2025 the BBF was suspended by FIBA and the men's team banned from international competition following "apparent governance issues and regulatory non-compliance." In November 2025 the BBF declared it was going to go into
liquidation. ==See also==