Brighton Bears have been handed a chance to move into European competition.

Club officials were meeting today to decide whether to take up a place in the new EuroCup.

Bears were the third English team to apply for what looked like being two spots allocated to the BBL for European competition.

London Towers have since been accepted into the ULEB Cup, a second tier of the EuroLeague.

That allows both Bears and Birmingham Bullets the chance to compete in the EuroCup, the equivalent of football's UEFA Cup.

Bears, who finished level on points with Southern Conference winners Towers last season, would love to bring teams from the likes of France, Belgium and Portugal to the Brighton Centre.

They have the backing of Brighton and Hove Council and believe European matches would be a wonderful advertisment both for the club and the city.

Bears have been working throughout the summer to secure sponsorship to meet the tough financial demands of Europe.

The major stumbling block would appear to be player recruitment. Coach Nick Nurse would only be able to field two Americans, compared to the five allowed in the BBL.

Nurse was expected to retain four of the Americans who finished last season while releasing Mike Brown, who hails from New York State but obtained a British passport earlier this season.

Club director Romek Kriwald said: "It looks like we have a very short time to make a decision. Nick has given consideration to the players he wants for next season and he would need to match that up with European requirements."

Should they they take up the challenge, Bears would enter a mini-league and be guaranteed several matches.

Meanwhile Brighton Magic, who play in the National League for women, have moved to Worthing.

They will play home matches at Worthing Leisure Centre on Saturday nights, tipping off at 5.45pm.

The matches will act as curtain-raisers to Worthing Thunder games in the men's NBL Conference. Magic, who are coached by former Bear Phil Waghorn, successfully staged a game at Worthing last season.