NIZHNY NOVGOROD (Russia) - FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis attended the 8th International Sports Forum "Russia – a Sports Nation" in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and participated in the panel “Sport and Business: Forms of Successful Interaction.”

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, was in attendance and greeted 1500 guests and over 150 athletes.

Andreas Zagklis, accompanied by the Russian Basketball Federation President Andrei Kirilenko, also met with the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Pavel Kolobkov, and the President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, during the two-day Forum. 

The purpose of the forum was to discuss mass sports development in Russia and highlight the biggest achievements and plans in hosting professional sports events in the country.

Russia has been host to FIBA youth events in the past, the most recent being the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship in 2015 and numerous 3x3 events, including the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in 2014, and in 2019, 2 FIBA 3x3 Challengers, 2 FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League Stops and 1 FIBA 3x3 Women's Series Stop, pictured below. Russia has expressed interest in hosting more events in the future with FIBA, including the upcoming FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022.

Andreas Zagklis said on the occasion of an interview with Russian media: "It is an honor for us to be invited here and present the results of the work and the vision of FIBA, both regarding the World Cup as well as 3x3 Basketball.

"This is a great platform for the exchange of views and ideas. We have acknowledged the interest of Russia in hosting the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022. We are still in an early phase of the process and we will be able to know more about the candidatures in the coming few months."

FIBA