ISTANBUL (Extraordinary World Congress) - The Extraordinary World Congress that convened in Istanbul on Sunday 16 March unanimously adopted new General Statutes that will bring changes to the governance structure of FIBA and strengthen the organisation in view of future challenges and strategic growth opportunities.

A record number of members attended this historical event at Ciragan Palace Kempinski, with 198 out of the 214 national federations that make up FIBA. There were representatives from 52 national federations from Africa, 41 national federations from the Americas, 39 national federations from Asia, 48 national federations from Europe and 18 national federations from Oceania.

The Congress voted in favour of the following amendments:
- Adjusting the next cycle of term of office to FIBA's new competition calendar, thus having exceptionally a five-year cycle (2014-2019) until the next Ordinary Congress and FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in 2019.
- Increasing its Central Board membership from 23 to 29 members to reflect the growth of the game by including more stakeholders in the top decision-making body and, in particular, by providing a specific position each for the NBA and the athletes.
- Establishing an executive committee to increase the flexibility and efficiency in the decision-making process.
- Supporting and implementing the principle of thinking globally, but acting regionally by providing full and direct administrative services to the member federations in each continent through regional offices owned by FIBA, redefining the roles and responsibilities of the actual Zones.
- Ensuring that the Congress has a central role in shaping future policies by directly electing an important number of Central Board members and by meeting every two years as of 2017.

FIBA President Yvan Mainini said: "This is a memorable day in FIBA's history. This unanimous vote strengthens FIBA's unity and position in the world of sport. It commits all national member federations to embrace FIBA's ambitious growth projects like the 3x3 and the new 2017 FIBA competition system."

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann said: "The new FIBA governance is a tool toward FIBA's vision of making basketball the most popular sports community and bringing more and new countries to the forefront. It is also an important step toward a more united, efficient and modern structure that wants to include all basketball stakeholders. These new statutes provide FIBA with a solid foundation and a strong structure for the future."Governance has been one of the four pillars FIBA outlined as key working areas for itself during the 2010-2014 cycle at its last ordinary World Congress in 2010 (also in Istanbul) and on which the Central Board has now worked for more than two years.

Click here to find out more about the new FIBA Governance.

The other three pillars are: the completion of the House of Basketball, which became a reality in the spring of 2013; the continued dedication to grow and develop 3x3 basketball which has been on-going since the 2010 Youth Olympic Games through the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and the 3x3 FIBA World Championships; the implementation of a new calendar and system of competition which will come into effect in 2017.

The election process for the next Ordinary Congress to be held at the end of August of this year in Spain will be running under the provisions of the new General Statutes.

FIBA

###

About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.com) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 214 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA visit fiba.com or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.