Watch the video

ISTANBUL (19th FIBA World Congress) – Yvan Mainini, the President of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) since 1992, has been unanimously elected as the 11th FIBA President at the FIBA World Congress in Istanbul, Turkey.

“I am flattered by the overwhelming confidence the Congress has shown me in today’s election,” he said. “I will do everything to justify this confidence and move the sport forward at the same pace as my predecessor.”

“Looking ahead, I am determined to work on a harmonised basketball calendar that gives clubs and national teams the exposure they both deserve.

“I will also further enhance FIBA’s mission to find new ways of growing the game. FIBA33 is certainly one way but by no means the only one.”

Mainini succeeds Bob Elphinston of Australia, who was elected at the 18th FIBA World Congress in Tokyo, Japan in 2006.

According to the principle of continental rotation and with statutes limiting the term of office to one four-year period, the FIBA Presidency was passed over to a European in 2010 following Elphinston’s four-year term.

Mainini was nominated for the FIBA Presidency by the FIBA Europe General Assembly in Munich, Germany in May.

Born in the French city of Bayeux on 26th December 1944, he began playing basketball in 1957 and four years later, at only 16 years of age, became the head coach of his hometown team. He was in charge of that side for a total of 17 seasons before moving on to Mondeville where he walked the sidelines from 1979 to 1982 and then in 1984.

He began refereeing when he was 17 and was a national referee just two years later. He went on to officiate in international competitions from 1973 to 1988, including three Olympic Games and three FIBA World Championships. He officiated in the 1982 and 1986 World Championship finals between the USA and the USSR. He refereed over 1,000 top-level games including 300 internationals.

Off the court, Mainini graduated from the University of Caen with a degree in geography in 1977. He completed a Masters Degree in Law and Economy of Sport in Limoges in 1993.

After working as a physical education professor for schools in his native area of Calvados (1965-1983), he went on to become Director of the Sports Department in Mondeville (1983-1988) and later the Manager of the Sports, Culture and Communication Department for that very same municipality.

He first got involved in the administrative side of basketball by becoming a member of Calvados’ Basketball Committee (1968-1972) and he then went on to serve as President of the League of Basse-Normandie (1984-1992) before taking his position as President of the FFBB.

Additionally, he has been a member of the FIBA Central Board since 1994, and served as its Vice-President for four years (1998-2002). He also had a term as FIBA Europe President (1998-2001).

He is involved in the Olympics movement, serving as a special adviser to the French National Olympic Committee President.

Mainini is married and has two children.

The Congress also ratified the composition of the Central Board for the 2010-2014 term. The following personalities have been approved:

Mr Yvan Mainini (France) President
Mr Horacio Muratore (Argentina) Vice President
Mr Patrick Baumann (Switzerland) Secretary General
Mr Borislav Stankovic (Serbia) Secretary General Emeritus
Mr Manfred Ströher (Germany) Treasurer
Mr Mabusa Eseka Dieudonne (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Mr Alphonse Bilé (Ivory Coast)
Ms Salamatou Maiga (Mali)
Mr Alberto Garcia (Argentina)
Ms Valerie Ackerman (USA)
Mr Usie Richards (US Virgin Islands)
Sheik Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani (Qatar)
Mr Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock (Malaysia)
Ms Xu Lan (China)
Mr Olafur Rafnsson (Iceland)
Mr Nar Zanolin (Canada)
Ms Lena Wallin-Kantzy (Sweden)
Mr Jose Luis Saez Regalado (Spain)
Mr Bob Elphinston (Australia)
Mr Steve Smith (Australia)
Mrs Barbara Wheadon (New Zealand)
*Sergei Chernov (Russia)
*Richard Carrión (Puerto Rico)

* denotes co-opted members

In accordance with the FIBA General Statutes, the following personalities have been appointed to the Ethics Commission by the Congress:

Mr Carl Ching (Hong Kong)
Dr Alain Ekra (Ivory Coast)
Mr George Killian (USA)
Mr Jenaro Marchand (Puerto Rico)
Mr Abdoulaye Seye Moreau (Senegal)
Mr Borislav Stankovic (Serbia)

The FIBA Central Board also announced it unanimously agreed to extend FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann’s contract until 2022.

About FIBA

FIBA (www.fiba.basketball), 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). For more information on FIBA and its competitions, visit www.facebook.com/fibaworld, twitter.com/fibaworld and www.youtube.com/fibaworld.