Japan 2024 Task Force holds second meeting, agrees criteria for new men's top flight

TOKYO - The Japan 2024 Task Force held its second meeting on Wednesday and looked to the future by agreeing the criteria that are to serve as the backbone for the country's new men's top flight basketball league, due to tip off in October 2016.

The task force is working to solve the issues that led to the country's national basketball federation being suspended in late 2014.

At its first meeting on 28 January, the 10 members and two observers making up the special panel defined the three core working areas: Top League, Governance and Basketball Development.

On Wednesday, the Task Force had a progress report on how the three working groups were progressing, before turning its attention to future activities for upcoming meetings.

With the support of the Task Force, Mr Tsuyoshi Aoki, Vice-President and Secretary General of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and Mr Joichi Okazaki, Executive Managing Director of the Japan Sports Association, are conducting surveys with stakeholders. The survey was sent to elite athletes and development staff designated by the JBA and to the Prefecture Basketball Association.

The Task Force also reached out to teams from the bj league, NBL and NBDL asking them to submit their financial reports. As of early March, 30 of 47 teams had sent them through.

A main order of business saw the 10-member panel and two observers determine the rules and regulations of the country's new top flight league.

As part of its mission, the league will look to:
- Improve the standards of Japan Basketball and promote the sport in the country together with the Japanese Basketball Association (JBA).
- Contribute to the promotion of rich sports culture and the development of the national's mental health and physical well-being.

The launch of the new league will reflect a fully cooperative relationship between the JBA and the league itself. This will be reflected in the following ways:
- New league and related parties, as affiliates of the JBA, must observe and abide by the decisions of the JBA and General Statues, as well as the rules and regulations of FIBA and the JBA.
- The JBA would position the new league as Japan's only top men's basketball league.
- The JBA and the new organisation in charge of running the league will maintain a close relationship.

All 47 teams that are currently signed up to the bj league, NBL and NBDL can sign up to be part of the new league. The membership requirements for them to do so were also set out and, among other things, include:
- Having a clear team philosophy which is coherent and in line with the league's philosophy.
- Teams applying to be a part of the new league must be affiliated to the NBL, bj league or NBDL and must submit a notice of withdrawal from the league they are affiliated to at the time of application.
- Teams must have a home venue where they will be able to play at least 80 percent of their home games on an annual basis. A capacity of 5,000 will be set as the target for all venues.
- Teams must prove they are financial sound and viable, possess good working operations and have established governance structures (i.e. legal compliance).
- Teams and related parties must observe the General Statutes and rules and regulations of the new league and of the JBA.

The Task Force will meet again at the end of March to discuss the details of the new league's operational organisation.

If all goes according to plan, the organisation that will operate the new league will be established on 1 April and effectively begin working towards the goal of opening its inaugural season in October of next year.

FIBA