Governing Body Endorsement Decision Appeal Process

Endorsement decision 

An endorsement request may be accepted only where a Player, Director of Basketball, Head Coach or Assistant Coach meets the criteria in Section 2 ‘Requirements’. Basketball England will notify the sponsor in writing of any endorsement request which is refused setting out the reasons for refusal. 

An endorsement request will be refused if the Player, Head Coach or Assistant Coach does not meet the Section 2 Requirements as set out in this document or fails to provide the mandatory documents.?  

Dispute-handling procedures 

Where an application for either a player to play in a team or a coach to coach a team in one of the leagues covered by the requirements for a governing body endorsement as set out for International Sportsperson has been refused on the grounds that the player or coach fails to meet the published requirements, the sponsor may seek an appeal of the decision. The sponsor will have 7 days to request an appeal. In these cases, Basketball England will refer the sponsor’s evidence to an independent appeal panel as set out below.    

The sponsor’s supporting evidence will be sent to the appeal panel in advance for their consideration in order to allow an informed decision.  

Sponsors should note that, in respect of any application, there will only be one panel available and the decision of the panel is final. Sponsors should therefore ensure that all evidence it wishes to present in support of its application is presented to the panel. If the sponsor has previously made an application that was unsuccessful at appeal panel a further panel cannot be requested for the same player or Head coach during the season unless his status changes and he meets the requirements whereby a new application can be submitted.  

The review 

The request for an appeal may only be made by the sponsor for whom the Governing Body Endorsement has been initially rejected by Basketball England. 

An appeal shall be commenced by the appellant lodging with Basketball England Integrity Team, a notice of appeal within 7 days of the decision appealed against. The notice of appeal shall: 

1. Set out details of the decision appealed against and, if the whole of the decision is not appealed against, identify that part of it which is appealed against;  

2. Acknowledge the sole ground of appeal applicable in this process; that being incorrect application of the endorsement criteria; 

3. Be accompanied by a deposit of £1000. A non-returnable fee of £500 applies. The panel shall have discretion as to whether the balance of the deposit is returned.  

The procedure for appeal will be in accordance with the Disciplinary Regulations and the Panel shall be comprised as detailed below.  

The panel 

The panel will be appointed by the Basketball England’s Discipline Officer. The appointed panel shall consist of an independent chairman, and two further independent Members, not connected with the British Basketball Federation (BBF), the home country of the club/sponsor appealing or the Licenced Leagues.

Power of the panel

The appeal panel will be convened, and will take into consideration the initial application, the appeal submission, and any reasoning and response provided by Basketball England. The sponsor will be notified of the appeal panel’s decision within seven working days of the appeal panel meeting to make their decision.  

The decision 

The panel will make a decision using the above criteria which shall be final and binding.