The Government has been asked to back a change in the rules of league basketball inspired by the troubled financial history of the Brighton Bears.

Creditors owed money by the clubs previous management firm have asked sports minister Richard Caborn to support a plan to penalise teams which have failed to pay debts.

The Bears franchise-holding company went into liquidation in September 2004.

Blue Sky Management folded owing thousands to creditors. Director and head coach Nick Nurse became a director of Bear Essentials, the company that took over.

Football teams in financial trouble can have points deducted, affecting their league position, and the boss of a merchandising firm owed £5,000 by Blue Sky Management ants similar penalties in basketball.

Dominic Ebert, of Crazy Horse, said a team should not be able to survive with the same name and players. He said: It is surprising the league is happy for these sorts of financial dealings to continue without any sort of policing.

He was backed by Romek Kriwald, formerly a director and shareholder of Blue Sky Management.

Mr Kriwald, a former professional basketball player who runs Parliament Communications, a sports management firm, said: There is no reason it couldnt be applied across all professional sports.

Clubs that did not pay their debts had an unfair advantage over those that did, he said.

Mr Ebert, whose company supplies customised printing, embroidery and clothing to basketball teams, began supplying the Bears in 2003.

The Newhaven firm offered a special deal for its local team and also sponsored the Bears summer school.

But the relationship went sour when a £4,857 bill for merchandise supplied between October 2003 and August 2004 was not paid.

Mr Ebert said: It is a small company, so obviously a debt like that is a significant hit and one that will not be weathered easily."

Mr Ebert is taking legal advice on whether he can recover the money from Mr Nurse as a director of Blue Sky Management after the British Basketball League told him it could do nothing.

He has written to Mr Caborn to complain about the system but a spokesman for the Department of Sport said a reply was unlikely until after the General Election.

Football League rules were changed in 2003. This season, Wrexham has been penalised and could face relegation.

Andy Webb, co-ordinator for the British Basketball League, said it would be hard to deduct points from basketball teams whose management companies went into liquidation because, unlike football clubs, they were run by franchises.

April 14, 2005