MIES, Switzerland - FIBA this week launched the Officials Licensing 2017+ program that will help meet the requirements of modern basketball officiating and maximise the opportunities presented by FIBA's New Competition System which comes into effect in November.  

The new regulatory framework for the licensing of game officials promotes excellence, professionalism as well as national and international development in refereeing.

The objective of FIBA Officials Licensing 2017+ is to ensure the highest quality of refereeing in basketball and to generate opportunities for more National Member Federations to have FIBA Referees.

This will be achieved by:

• Encouraging long-term planning and Referee development programs in all FIBA Regions and National Federations;
• Enhancing the involvement and training of female referees;
• Engaging more National Federations in the planning, management and training of officials;
• Promoting young potential referees.

The marked improvements on the previous system include:

• Fixed 2-year term promotes ongoing self-development of officials;
• Each National Federation is assigned a limited number of licenses (whereas it was previously unlimited) for Referees and Commissioners;
• National Federations submit their candidates to FIBA;
• FIBA Referee Licenses are divided into 3 categories - Black License, Green License and White License;
• Green License is specifically designated to promote and activate female refereeing;
• Number of licenses for Commissioners can be up to half of the number for Referees.

Patrick Baumann, FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member, said: “This program comes at a perfect time as it accompanies the launch of the New Competition System - which will involve over 100 countries worldwide simultaneously - and is another natural extension of the ONE FIBA strategy whereby the Global Headquarters works in close cooperation with the Region Offices and National Member Federations. More importantly, it is a positive game-changer in that it not only aims at improving officiating globally but also helps international and national referee operations to better meet the demands of modern basketball. This project has been three years in the making and the new concept has come to fruition thanks to the help of the entire basketball family.” 

Registration materials were sent out to all National Member Federations on Tuesday January 31 and the list of FIBA Referees and Commissioners for the period 2017-2019 will be announced at the latest by June 15.

Click here for full information about FIBA Officials Licensing 2017+.

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.com) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
 
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