Russia's Olympic basketball participation in peril after FIBA suspension

It would appear that Brazil isn't the only country in danger of losing a 2016 Olympic basketball bid.

The Russian Basketball Federation has been suspended by world basketball governing body FIBA, disqualifying it for the time being from international competition. Russia was scheduled to compete in the European Championship – the qualifier for next summer's Rio de Janeiro games – in September.

FIBA said in a letter on their website that interference in the running of the federation, known in Russia as RFB, was behind their decision to suspend it, according to a Reuters report.

"Russia's participation in the European Championship in the autumn and the 2016 Olympics is under a real threat," Sergei Chernov, the honorary president of the Russian Basketball Federation told TASS.

The federation is slated to hold a presidential election next month, where recently retired NBA player Andrei Kirilenko is expected to run as a candidate.

Russia won bronze at the 2012 Summer Games in London, coached by current Cleveland Cavaliers bench boss David Blatt - with a team featuring NBA players including Kirilenko, Timofey Mozgov, and Alexey Shved. It was the country's first men's Olympic basketball medal since the breakup of the former Soviet Union.