The International Basketball Federation (FIBA /ˈfbə/ FEE-bə; French: Fédération internationale de basketball)[a][4] is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, organizes international competitions, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international referees. A total of 212 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

International Basketball Federation
Fédération internationale de basket-ball
(FIBA)
AbbreviationFIBA
PredecessorInternational Amateur Handball Federation
Formation18 June 1932; 91 years ago (1932-06-18)
Founded atGeneva, Switzerland
TypeSports federation
HeadquartersMies, Switzerland
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
212 national federations
Official languages
English
French[1]
President
Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani
Secretary general
Andreas Zagklis[2]
Key people
Borislav Stanković
George Vassilakopoulos
Manfred Ströher
Revenue (2018)
US$102.2 million[3]
Expenses (2018)US$107.74 million[3]
WebsiteFIBA.basketball
FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland

FIBA organizes both the men's and women's FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament, which are sanctioned by the IOC.[5] The FIBA Basketball World Cup is a world tournament for men's national teams held every four years. Teams compete for the Naismith Trophy, named in honor of basketball's Canadian-American creator James Naismith. The tournament structure is similar but not identical to that of the FIFA World Cup in association football; these tournaments occurred in the same year from 1970 through 2014, but starting in 2019, the Basketball World Cup will move to the year following the FIFA World Cup. A parallel event for women's teams, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, is also held quadrennial; from 1986 through 2014, it was held in the same year as the men's event but in a different country.

History edit

1932–49; founding and early years edit

The association was founded in Geneva in 1932, two years after the sport was officially recognized by the IOC. Before 1934, basketball was under the umbrella of the International Amateur Handball Federation. Its original name was Fédération Internationale de basket-ball amateur. The eight nation's basketball federations that were the founding members of FIBA were: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. In September 1934 the Protocol of Stockholm was passed and the FIBB became the only recognized authority responsible for basketball. During the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, the Federation named James Naismith (1861–1939), the founder of basketball, as its Honorary President.

Development (1950–2019) edit

FIBA has organized a World Championship, now known as World Cup, for men since 1950 and a Women's World Championship, now known as the Women's World Cup, since 1953. From 1986 through 2014, both events were held every four years, alternating with the Olympics.[6] As noted above, the men's World Cup was moved to a new four-year cycle, with tournaments in the year before the Summer Olympics, after 2014.

The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned to Geneva in 2002. In 1991, it founded the FIBA Hall of Fame; the first induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2007, during EuroBasket 2007. During its 81st anniversary in 2013, FIBA moved into its new headquarters, "The House of Basketball", at Mies.[7] Andreas Zagklis became the Secretary-General of FIBA on 7 December 2018.

2020–present; suspensions of Russia and Belarus edit

In February 2022, Russia and Belarus were suspended from international competitions until further notice due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[8][9] It also banned the two countries from hosting any competitions.[9]

Presidents edit

Presidents of FIBA
Years Name[10]
1932–1948   Leon Bouffard
1948–1960   Willard Greim
1960–1968   Antonio dos Reis Carneiro
1968–1976   Abdel Moneim Wahby
1976–1984   Gonzalo Puyat II
1984–1990   Robert Busnel
1990–1998   George E. Killian
1998–2002   Abdoulaye Seye Moreau
2002–2006   Ching Men-ky [zh]
2006–2010   Robert Elphinston
2010–2014   Yvan Mainini
2014–2019   Horacio Muratore
2019–2023   Hamane Niang
2023–present   Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani

During the 1936 Summer Olympics, the FIBA honored James A. Naismith, the founder of basketball, as their honorary President.[6]

Secretaries General edit

Secretaries General of FIBA
Years Name
1932–1976   Renato William Jones
1976–2003  /  Borislav Stanković
2003–2018   Patrick Baumann
2018–present   Andreas Zagklis

Structure edit

Five zones and 212 national federations edit

 
FIBA divides the world into 5 zones, each roughly based on a continent.

There are five zones, in which FIBA oversees the game in the different continents and regions of the world through its regional offices under its new governance structure, which was approved by the 2014 FIBA Extraordinary Congress in Istanbul.[11] National federations are members of FIBA and are provided for in FIBA's General Statutes with their assigned zones.[12] The Statutes also state that upon a national federation's admission into FIBA, it is assigned to a zone by the Central Board.[13]

In total, FIBA recognizes 212 national federations; see the list of men's national basketball teams and the list of women's national basketball teams. Unlike other sports organizations, FIBA recognizes the British Basketball Federation as the lone governing body for basketball in Great Britain, as a result of a merger in 2016 between the basketball federations of two of the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom (England and Scotland).[14] Wales rejected the merger but eventually joined in 2015. Several members of FIBA Oceania, notably Australia and New Zealand, also compete in Asian tournaments.

In 2021, Peru was disaffiliated from FIBA[15] and were also suspended prior in 2018.[16]

The FIBA Men's World Ranking and FIBA Women's World Ranking are both updated after a FIBA competition or qualification window and are based on their performance, particularly in games, in those events. The current men's ranking was updated on 10 September 2023 after the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, while the latest women's ranking was updated on 21 August 2023 after the FIBA Women's Continental Cups, which took place in all FIBA zones.

Laws and governance edit

 
FIBA in Mies.

FIBA's headquarters is located in Mies, Switzerland and is known as the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball, named after the organization's former Secretary-General.

FIBA's supreme body is the FIBA Congress, an assembly of representatives from each affiliated national federation, with each having one vote. The Congress assembles every two years, either an elective or mid-term congress, and is the only body that can make modifications to FIBA's General Statutes. An elective congress elects the FIBA President, Treasurer, and members of the FIBA Central Board, and appoints members of their Ethics and Nominations Panels.[17] Two extraordinary congresses have been held since 1989, with the most recent held in 2014.

The FIBA Central Board is the organization's highest executive body. It comprises 29 people: the president; the secretary-general; the treasurer; 13 members elected by the FIBA Congress; the 5 presidents of each FIBA zone; up to six co-opted members; a representative each from the National Basketball Association and the players. The Board is the body that decides which countries will host the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The current Central Board for the term 2023-2027 comprises 27 members.

The president and the secretary general are the main office holders of FIBA and are in charge of its daily administration. Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani is the current president, elected on 23 August 2023 at the FIBA Congress. Andreas Zagklis is the current secretary-general, appointed on 8 December 2018 following the death of Patrick Baumann.[18]

FIBA tournaments edit

World champions edit

Tournament FIBA World Cup Year Next edition Olympics Year
Men   Germany (1) 2023 2027   United States (16) 2020
Women   United States (11) 2022 2026   United States (9) 2020
U-19 Men   Spain (2) 2023 2025   Argentina (1) 2018
U-19 Women   United States (10) 2023 2025   United States (2) 2018
U-17 Men   United States (6) 2022 2024 N/A[A]
U-17 Women   United States (5) 2022 2024

^ A: The Youth Olympic Games are a U-19 event played in FIBA 3x3 format.

World club champions edit

Club competition Year Champion Title Runner-up Next edition
Intercontinental Cup 2023-II   Sesi Franca 1st   Telekom Baskets Bonn 2024

Continental champions edit

National teams FIBA Africa Year Next edition FIBA Americas Year Next edition FIBA Asia Year Next edition FIBA Europe Year Next edition FIBA Oceania Year Next edition
Men   Tunisia (3) 2021 2025   Argentina (3) 2022 2025   Australia (2) 2022 2025   Spain (4) 2022 2025   Australia (19) 2015 N/A[B]
Women   Nigeria (6) 2023 2025   Brazil (6) 2023 2025   China (12) 2023 2025   Belgium (1) 2023 2025   Australia (15) 2015
U-19 Men   Egypt (6) 2022 2024   United States (10) 2022 2024   South Korea (4) 2022 2024   Serbia (5) 2023 2024   New Zealand (1) 2016
U-19 Women   Mali (8) 2022 2024   United States (11) 2022 2024   Australia (1) 2022 2024   Slovenia (1) 2023 2024   Australia (7) 2016
U-17 Men   Guinea (1) 2023 2025   United States (8) 2023 2025   Australia (3) 2023 2024   Spain (6) 2023 2024   Australia (6) 2022 2024
U-17 Women   Mali (8) 2023 2025   United States (7) 2023 2025   Australia (3) 2023 2024   France (5) 2023 2024   Australia (6) 2022 2024

^ B: FIBA Oceania no longer conducts senior-level championships for either sex. Since 2017, that region's members have competed for FIBA Asia senior championships. FIBA Oceania continues to hold age-grade championships.

Continental club champions edit

Region Competition Year Champion Title Runner-up Next edition
Men's club competitions
Africa Basketball Africa League 2023   Al Ahly 1st   AS Douanes 2024
Americas Basketball Champions League Americas 2022–23   Sesi Franca 1st   Flamengo 2023–24
Asia Basketball Champions League Asia 2019   Alvark Tokyo 1st   Al Riyadi Beirut 2024
Europe[C] Basketball Champions League 2022–23   Telekom Baskets Bonn 1st   Hapoel Jerusalem 2023–24
Europe Cup 2022–23   Anwil Włocławek 1st   Cholet 2023–24
Women's club competitions
Africa Africa Women's Clubs Champions Cup 2022   Sporting Alexandria 1st   Costa do Sol 2023
Europe EuroLeague Women (1st-tier) 2022–23   Fenerbahçe 1st   ÇBK Mersin Yenişehir Bld. 2023–24
EuroCup Women (2nd-tier) 2022–23   ASVEL Féminin 1st   Galatasaray 2023–24
SuperCup Women 2023   Fenerbahçe 1st   ASVEL Féminin 2024

^ C: The top-tier European professional basketball club competitions are complex. The EuroLeague run by Euroleague Basketball and its EuroCup are competing with the FIBA Europe organized competitions. The best European clubs have joined the closed league EuroLeague.

3x3 world champions edit

Tournament FIBA 3x3 World Cup Year Olympics Year
Men   Serbia (6) 2023   Latvia (1) 2020
Women   United States (3) 2023   United States (1) 2020
U-23 Men   United States (1) 2023 N/A
U-23 Women   Netherlands (1) 2023
U-18 Men   Germany (1) 2023
U-18 Women   United States (7) 2023

Awards edit

Most Valuable Player edit

Tournament Most Recent Awardee Team Year
Men Dennis Schröder   Germany 2023
Women A'ja Wilson   United States 2022
U-19 Men Izan Almansa   Spain 2023
U-19 Women Iyana Martín Carrión   Spain 2023
U-17 Men Izan Almansa   Spain 2022
U-17 Women JuJu Watkins   United States 2022

FIBA world rankings edit

Men's edit

The following table has the Top 32 men's basketball countries in the world.[19] The Top 32 is here due to the next iteration of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the world's major tournament in men's basketball, anticipating to have 32 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Men's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.[20]

Top 20 Rankings as of 1 March 2024[21]
Rank Change Team Points
1     United States 784.8
2     Spain 773.9
3     Germany 759
4   1   Serbia 757.9
5   1   Australia 756.3
6   2   Latvia 750.6
7   1   Canada 746.2
8   1   Argentina 743.2
9     France 737.1
10     Lithuania 713.1
11     Slovenia 703.6
12   1   Brazil 660.4
13     Italy 655.7
14     Greece 641.6
15     Poland 611.7
16     Puerto Rico 608.4
17     Montenegro 607.7
18   1   Czech Republic 560.5
19   1   Dominican Republic 556.3
20     Finland 537.4
21   6   New Zealand 507.2
22   4   Venezuela 502.7
23   10   Georgia 465.9
24   8   Turkey 445.8
25   7   Mexico 440.9
26   11   Japan 432.2
27   4   Iran 427.8
28   16   Lebanon 423.3
29   1   China 420.4
30   4   Croatia 420.2
31   32   South Sudan 375.5
32   1   Jordan 374.6
*Change from 9 August 2021

Women's edit

The following table has the Top 16 women's basketball countries in the world.[22] The Top 16 is here due to the next iteration of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the world's major tournament in women's basketball, anticipating to have 16 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Women's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.[23]

Top 20 Rankings as of 15 February 2024[24]
Rank Change Team Points
1     United States 834.8
2     China 686
3     Australia 668.8
4     Spain 658.1
5     Canada 653.4
6     Belgium 652.8
7     France 649.2
8     Brazil 598
9     Japan 594.2
10     Serbia 580.3
11   1   Puerto Rico 495.1
12   1   Nigeria 490.1
13     South Korea 444.8
14     Turkey 405.5
15     Italy 378.4
16   5   Hungary 357.7
*Change from 9 August 2021

Sponsors of FIBA edit

As of April 2023

FIBA global partners edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Originally known as the Fédération internationale de basketball amateur (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word amateur from its name but retained the acronym.

References edit

  1. ^ 2014 General Statutes of FIBA, Article 47.1
  2. ^ "FIBA Central Board appoints Andreas Zagklis as Secretary General". FIBA.basketball. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b Perelman, Rich (24 May 2020). "Who's in the money? EXCLUSIVE analysis of our survey of International Federation finances". The Sports Examiner. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  4. ^ "History of FIBA". FIBA. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Presentation". FIBA.basketball.
  6. ^ a b "History". FIBA. Archived from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Highlights of the Week". Olympics. International Olympic Committee. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  8. ^ "FIBA suspends Russian teams, officials from international basketball competitions until further notice".
  9. ^ a b "FIBA bans Russia, Belarus from Upcoming National Basketball Team Competitions – KyivPost – Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 18 May 2022.
  10. ^ "President of FIBA". fiba.basketball. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  11. ^ "PR N°14 – Extraordinary World Congress unanimously adopts new FIBA General Statutes". 16 March 2014.
  12. ^ "FIBA General Statutes (2021 edition)". 3 June 2021. p. 37.
  13. ^ "FIBA General Statutes (2021 edition)". 3 June 2021. p. 21.
  14. ^ Ian Parker (11 August 2012). "Basketball: England and Scotland to formally merge at Great Britain". The Independent.
  15. ^ "Peruvian basketball is reborn after its disaffiliation from FIBA". 13 May 2022.
  16. ^ "FIBA's Executive Committee announces U19 World Cups hosts, looks forward to action-packed weeks ahead". 12 December 2018.
  17. ^ "FIBA General Statutes (2021 edition)". 3 June 2021. p. 11.
  18. ^ "FIBA Central Board appoints Andreas Zagklis as Secretary General". fiba.basketball. 7 December 2018.
  19. ^ "FIBA Rankings – Men's basketball". International Basketball Federation. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  20. ^ "How to Qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup". International Basketball Federation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  21. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  22. ^ "FIBA Rankings – Women's basketball". International Basketball Federation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  23. ^ "How to Qualify for the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup". International Basketball Federation. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  24. ^ "FIBA Women's Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Go-time for FIBA and Asia's biggest natural mineral water brand Ganten with Global Partnership extension". FIBA. 8 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Global partnership with J9 set to bring fans across the globe closer to the game". FIBA. 10 October 2021.
  27. ^ "FIBA and Molten continue to blaze their basketball trail for the next two World Cup cycles". FIBA. 9 September 2023.
  28. ^ "FIBA signs 11-year strategic partnership with iconic basketball brand Nike". FIBA. 27 February 2017.
  29. ^ "Smart to serve as FIBA World Cup 2027 global partner". Tiebreaker Times. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  30. ^ "FIBA enters global partnership agreement with electronics giant TCL". FIBA. 3 September 2020.
  31. ^ "FIBA and Tencent announce long-term partnership until 2025". FIBA. 18 May 2016.
  32. ^ "FIBA and Tissot partnership stands the test of time with extension until 2027". FIBA. 8 July 2021.
  33. ^ "FIBA and Wanda Group signs landmark strategic partnership agreement". FIBA. 31 August 2019.
  34. ^ "Asian dairy giant Yili becomes newest FIBA Global Partner". FIBA. 26 April 2023.

External links edit