BRITISH BASKETBALL has been given a financial lifeline by the government in the shape of £195,000 up front, with the promise of £305,000 to come later, UK Sport announced today.

The funding agency has not supported British Basketball’s elite set-up since the London Olympics and the BB’s hand-to-mouth existence reached crisis point earlier this year when it was claimed the national teams would have to be withdrawn from international competition.

BB chief executive Lisa Wainwright said in February that the men’s, women’s and age-group teams needed about £900,000 to keep them on court for the next 12 months and pulling them out of competition would set the sport back years.

This gloomy scenario prompted an outcry from basketball fans and players, with GB women’s team star Temi Fagbenle berating UK Sport for funding “obscure sports” while ignoring basketball, a sport with a wide and diverse playing base.

This point was picked up by MPs at a Westminster debate on basketball’s plight that month, with Labour's David Lammy asking if there is any “unintended or unconscious bias” in the way funding decisions are made.

The pressure helped Sports Minister Tracey Crouch find £500,000 from her department’s budget to keep GB’s hoops dreams alive.

The initial £195,000 will enable the men’s team to play their World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel in Glasgow on June 29 and July 2, respectively.

The second, larger sum has been ring-fenced to enable the men’s and women’s teams to meet their fixture commitments over the next year but will only be released if British Basketball can come up with a sustainable, long-term business plan.

This will be new BB chairman Ed Warner’s biggest challenge but the former UK Athletics boss made it clear that he would only take the job, which was officially confirmed last week, if he was given some breathing space to make that business case.

It is understood that Warner is confident a closer partnership with the British Basketball League, which is growing in popularity, can help the sport become more self-sufficient.

In a statement, he said: “A lot of work has been undertaken with UK Sport and others to get us to this point, and I am confident they understand the direction of travel for GB Basketball to help ensure an even more coherent commercial and pathway structure for the sport.

“There is still a lot more work to do to ensure long-term sustainability for elite basketball in Britain, but today’s news is very welcome."

Crouch said basketball’s potential for inspiring young people from diverse backgrounds is the key to this “exceptional investment.”

But she warned that the “basketball bodies must work together to secure the future of the sport.”

UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl echoed the Tory minister, saying: “It is disappointing that British Basketball has found itself in this situation … but it is important we put the athletes first” with some “one-off support.”

Nicholl’s agency has repeatedly refused to help the sport before because it does not meet its main criteria for funding: credible chances of winning medals.

GB men's captain Kieron Achara thanked British Basketball and UK Sport for finding a compromise, saying: “There is so much potential in British hoops and the important thing now is to get funding into the sport to help it grow and embed the right structures to support the teams.”