The Sirens have been cut from the the Australian WNBL league.
The New Zealand women's basketball franchise competed in their debut season out of Christchurch, but faced the prospect of relocating to Wellington after losing a key sponsor two weeks ago.
With the league due to tip off in 6 weeks, Basketball Australia had to finalise the season's draw and withdrew the Sirens from the WNBL.
Basketball NZ chief executive Dale Stephens says the loss of the Sirens this year is a blow but he hopes it's not the end of the concept.
Stephens says the Sirens are an important part of the pathway towards the Tall Ferns and Basketball New Zealand will try to convince Basketball Australia to allow the franchise back into the competition for 2009-2010 season.
He says they still intend moving the franchise to another city with a new management structure.
