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FIBA to lift sanctions from Russia in January — sports director

The Russian Basketball Federation was suspended in late July by FIBA, which cited the lack of transparency in the Russian federation’s management as the reason for its decision

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) will lift sanctions from Russia in January 2016, Kosta Iliev, FIBA sports director for Europe, told TASS on Wednesday.

"We worked on the draft of a new charter together with the RBF (Russian Basketball Federation) and Sports Ministry. It was necessary to lift sanctions. This will happen at the organization’s session in January," said Iliev, currently attending an RBF conference in Moscow.

Meanwhile, RBF President Andrey Kirilenko said the Russian justice minister was involved in drafting the charter.

"The International Basketball Federation has ordered some changes to be made and we took this into account," he said.

The RBF was suspended in late July by FIBA, which cited the lack of transparency in the Russian federation’s management as the reason for its decision. All Russian national basketball teams were suspended from international competitions.

However, at a session of the FIBA’s Central Board, which convened on August 8-9 in Tokyo, Japan, it was decided to all the Russian national teams were to play at the international level championships, but the suspension of the RBF remained in force.