The fate of the match between Britain and Belarus, due to be held in Minsk remains uncertain, while a match between Ukraine and Spain, due to be played in Kyiv has been postponed.

The British Basketball Federation (BBF) Board decided following an emergency meeting at the weekend that the British men's squad would not travel to Minsk for the fixture, which was due to be played on Friday (February 25).

The United Kingdom Government is currently advising against all but essential travel to Belarus with interim BBF chair Toni Minichiello saying: "With the news reports of growing tensions in the region, the published advice of the Home Office, and a meeting to gauge the feelings and concerns of both the players and staff, the Board made the decision that the team’s safety and wellbeing is the only priority.

"We await to hear from FIBA, but hope that we will be able to play in another location or on another date if FIBA sanctions that."

In response, Belarusian Basketball Federation executive director Anastasia Marinina said: "So far, it is quite difficult to comment on the situation, since no official documents have been received from FIBA.

"Both our men's team and the Organising Committee continue to prepare for the upcoming match in Minsk.

"We hope that sport in this situation will be higher than political ambitions, and our friends from the UK will be able to fly in and play in front of the Belarusian fans, who are really looking forward to this match.

"Despite the high cost of British visas and all the peculiarities of their processing, the difficulties of any flights during the pandemic, our team did not even consider postponing this game, because we respect our opponent and we understand how important it is to play on the home arena."

As things stand, the return fixture between the two nations is still scheduled to take place in Newcastle, England on February 28.

Britain and Belarus both sit on three points in Group B.

insidethegames has approached FIBA and Basketball England for a comment on the status of the match.

The situation is a bit clearer with the contest between Ukraine and Spain that was due to take place in Kyiv, with FIBA already confirming its postponement due to security concerns in Ukraine.

The match between the two sides, due to be held in Cordoba tomorrow, is still due to go ahead.

FIBA say they hope the Group G encounter that was due to be played in Ukraine can be rescheduled for either June or July.

"The decision and the related security assessment do not affect any other games of Group G, where Ukraine and Spain participate, or of other groups of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers, which remain as originally scheduled," said a FIBA statement.

Spain currently top Group G with four points with Ukraine sitting in third place on three.

A state of emergency is expected to be declared in Ukraine over the crisis, with Ukraine urging all its citizens currently in Russia to leave the country immediately.