BASKETBALL

One of Russia’s leading women’s basketball clubs, Sparta&K, has called for more independence from the Russian Federation of Basketball for women’s teams.

The club, which was Russian champion in 2007 and 2008 and runner-up in the last three seasons, has appealed in writing to the federation’s president, Alexander Krasnenkov. The letter suggests that teams should have a say on issues like the tournament’s organization, referee appointments and conditions for foreign players, while a new agency should be formed to run the women’s championship, with each squad represented on the board.

“These days, all issues [related to women’s basketball] are decided by [the federation],” Dmitri Fedoseyev, Sparta&K’s executive director, was quoted as saying by R-Sport wire service.

“I don’t want the dialogue of the clubs with [the federation] to turn into confrontation, like in men’s basketball,” Fedoseyev said. “[But] the possibility of creating an independent league is not ruled out.”

The initiative of Sparta&K is to be discussed with other teams’ management at a conference.

Unlike the men’s basketball superleague, which has several teams with substantial sponsors’ backing, many women’s squads are heavily dependent on local authorities for funding.

The idea of a new women’s basketball league was first discussed earlier this year, but Krasnenkov opposed it at the time. The men’s basketball superleague is run independently of the federation.

The superleague was formed in the summer of 2010 in the wake of a major controversy. Back then, a recording of a conversation involving referees and a federation official, in which the possibility of rigging a play-off game was discussed, was made public.

Although the federation claimed the tape was a fake, the top division’s clubs left the organization and formed the superleague, and the federation’s president, Sergei Chernov eventually stepped down and was replaced by Krasnenkov.