The British Basketball Federation is counter-suing Super League Basketball in a further escalation of the bitter in-fighting blighting the domestic game.

The BBF filed its defence this week against SLB’s High Court claim, which accuses the governing body of abusing its position by preventing clubs from running their league.

In its counterclaim, the BBF argues that SLB is the party abusing its position, in this case as the incumbent operator of elite basketball, in order to stifle competitors.

It is the latest twist in a bloody battle over the future of the game which threatens to leave Britain’s leading clubs without a recognised league for the coming season.

“The British Basketball Federation (BBF) has filed its Defence to the claim brought against it by Super League Basketball (SLB) and has brought its own Counterclaim against SLB’s anticompetitive behaviour,” it said.

“The BBF is robustly defending the legal claims made against it by SLB. In its Defence, submitted to the High Court, the BBF makes clear that it has not abused a dominant position, as alleged by SLB. 

“In its accompanying Counterclaim the BBF notes that SLB is abusing its position as the incumbent league operator by seeking to prevent the development of a competitive market.” 

What is British basketball civil war about?

The dispute centres on the right to run a British basketball league, which the BBF has control over through its membership of world governing body Fiba.