Basketball-Japan suspended for failing to merge leagues

(Updates with JBA apology) * FIBA says suspension for good of Japanese basketball * JBA to work on getting ban lifted Nov 27 (Reuters) - The Japanese Basketball Association apologised on Thursday after being suspended by the sport's ruling body (FIBA) for failing to come up with a plan to merge two domestic leagues, putting Japan's place in the 2016 Olympic competition in jeopardy. FIBA had given the JBA until the end of October to come up with a plan to merge the Basketball Japan League and the National Basketball League into a single competition. Efforts to reach an agreement came to nothing and FIBA said late on Wednesday the JBA had forfeited its rights as a member federation and would be banned from taking part in any of its competitions, which include Olympic qualifiers. JBA chief Yasuhiko Fukatsu resigned late last month as the impasse showed no signs of easing and acting president Mitsuru Maruo said it was imperative to get the suspension overturned as soon as possible. "I want to offer my deepest apologies to the players and others involved," Kyodo news agency quoted Maruo as telling a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. "Our biggest mission is to quickly try and get the ban lifted." FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann said in a statement on Wednesday the drastic step had been taken "for the good of basketball in Japan". "FIBA regrets that the situation has reached such a point of no return," he said, adding that the measures were aimed at ensuring Japan made full use of the "opportunity that the 2020 Olympic Games will provide to basketball in Japan". "We want a successful Tokyo 2020 basketball tournament with the participation of the Japanese men's and women's national teams," he added. Given the ongoing turmoil, FIBA said it would lend its support to Japan to help resolve the issues. "In view of this, FIBA's Executive Committee has therefore decided to send a FIBA delegation to Japan to set up a Task Force that will be in charge of guiding the JBA through these difficult times and implement the necessary reforms," Baumann added. (Writing by Peter Rutherford; Additional reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by John O'Brien)