Russian basketball teams barred from FIBA competitions

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - Russian basketball teams and officials will no longer be allowed in international competitions, FIBA announced on Tuesday.

They were barred from FIBA Basketball and 3x3 Basketball competitions until further notice, the international authority said in an online statement.

FIBA will communicate any further decisions of its European Zone bodies in the next coming days, as well as those taken by the Central Board at its meeting on March 25.

The organization also strongly condemned violence in Ukraine and expressed its deepest sympathies to the victims.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, have been injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Nearly 680,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.