By Guoda Pečiulytė, LRT TV, LRT.lt.

Lithuanian basketball is going through a crisis – the men’s national team is struggling in its World Cup qualifiers, while the responsible Lithuanian Basketball Association is facing fierce criticism over the results as well as its handling of a sexual harassment scandal.

On Wednesday, LRT TV hosted a discussion examining the problems facing Lithuanian basketball. Participants included Mindaugas Balčiūnas, president of the Lithuanian Basketball Association, Eimantas Skersis, director of Utenos Juventus club, Justas Kalinauskas, secretary general of LTU Aquatics who also works for FIBA, Panevėžys Lietkabelis player Gabrielius Maldūnas, and basketball expert Ignas Grinevičius.

Jonas Miklovas, head of the Basketballnews website, was also due to take part, but Balčiūnas refused to participate if Miklovas was involved.

Following the programme, Balčiūnas announced on Friday he would be stepping down as the president of the basketball association.

Abuse scandal

In February last year, Lithuanian basketball was rocked by a scandal when women’s national team players anonymously spoke about the inappropriate behaviour and psychological abuse they had experienced from then-head coach Rimantas Grigas.

Read more: LRT.LT