FIBA lifts Russia's international ban

By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy MOSCOW (Reuters) - Basketball's international governing body FIBA has lifted the ban on the Russian federation (RBF) with immediate effect. FIBA said in a statement on Friday that they were ending the suspension as the RBF had dealt with the issues that gave rise to the ban in "a very positive manner". Russia were suspended in July after years of instability at the RBF, which culminated in a June court decision that forced the federation to hold new presidential elections. The ban was partially lifted in August, which allowed Russia to compete in the European Basketball Championships in September. However, Russian basketball officials were still suspended from taking part in FIBA-organized events. FIBA said that the RBF had introduced new statutes this month, which complied with their regulations and had held new presidential elections in August in a "fair, democratic and transparent manner". They also cited an agreement that had been reached by which the RBF is the sole governing body for Russian basketball. (Reporting By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy; editing by Toby Davis)