Nivea withdrawal adds to Irish basketball’s financial woes

Basketball Ireland’s hopes of climbing out of debt by 2017 have been set back after long-time SuperLeague sponsors Nivea ended its association with the sport.

This follows the Irish Sports Council’s decision to exclude the body from the Sports Capital Programme for the next five years as punishment for the misuse of grants between 2004 and 2009.

Secretary general of Basketball Ireland, Bernard O’Byrne, expressed disappointment at the loss of Nivea, but is optimistic a replacement can be found.