COLOGNE (Germany) - The Board of FIBA Europe convened for the third meeting of the term of office 2019-2023 in the German city of Cologne, on Friday, November 8.

There was no shortage of topics to cover and decisions to be made, among others confirming the many hosts of the FIBA Europe 2020 summer tournaments.

Friday's meeting was chaired by FIBA Europe President Turgay Demirel and was attended by newly elected FIBA President Hamane Niang, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak.

EUROPE AND THE WORLD CUP 

In opening proceedings Mr. Demirel paid tribute to the great success of the European teams in the World Cup in China where Spain lifted the trophy for only the second time in their history and France finished third; he emphasized that nine of the top 12 teams in the standings were European.

Mr. Demirel made a special mention to the experience and passion of newly elected Mr. Niang; he gave a brief account of all summer events action, including the well-organized FIBA World Congress in Beijing, last August, for which he congratulated Mr. Zagklis.

The delivery of the World Cup in China was the main theme of an intervention by Mr. Zagklis, who provided the Board with a range of TV numbers, social media and overall media exposure that prove the success of the most ambitious and challenging project so far in FIBA's history.

EUROBASKET AND WOMEN'S EUROBASKET

The Board received an update on FIBA EuroBasket 2021 and FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 preparations and a proposed timeline of the bidding process for the next edition of the two flagship events, the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 and FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023.

The process for both events is expected to start in spring 2020 and conclude a year later with Women's EuroBasket awarded in spring 2021 and EuroBasket 2025 in the summer of 2021. 

OTHER COMPETITIONS AND REPORTS

The members heard reports on the Basketball Champions League, all FIBA Europe club competitions, 3x3 as well as reports by the Treasurer and the chairpersons of permanent Commissions. The budget of FIBA Europe for 2020 was unanimously approved by the Board.

Mr. Zagklis also reminded the Board of the new FIBA Strategy Objectives for the 2019-2027 cycle that have been approved by the Central Board and presented to the Congress in August in Beijing.

Those include three main priorities for the period up to 2023: Empower National Federations; Women in Basketball and Enlarging the FIBA Family.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

The Board approved the extension of the Girl's Program (Her World Her Rules) for an additional two years, until and including 2021 with a funding of one million euro.

Her World Her Rules will continue to promote women's and girls' basketball across Europe

The members were updated on the recent approval for co-funding of FIBA Europe's TIME-OUT 2.0 project by the Erasmus+ Sport program of the European Union.

TIME-OUT 2.0, which comprises 11 academic and institutional partners from eight counties and has UEFA as its supporting partner, follows on the legacy of the original TIME-OUT project, aiming at the development of transferable skills by athletes, federation employees and other stakeholders and the creation of various sporting and academic programs.

FIBA Europe's hugely successful TIME-OUT project is set to return

ADVISORY PANELS

Mr. Demirel confirmed the creation of four advisory panels, comprising of experts and professionals from inside the FIBA family and member federations, who will  advise FIBA Europe and follow developments on their area of expertise. Those panels are:

• eSports; 
• 3x3 development;
• Innovation and Digital Media;
• Fan engagement and loyalty. 

2020 EVENT HOSTS CONFIRMED

The Board confirmed the hosts of the 2020 European Championships for Small Countries and all European Youth Championships next summer.

The Men's and Women's European Championship for Small Countries will be organized between June 29 - July 4 in Limerick (Ireland) and  between June 30 - July 5 in Nicosia (Cyprus) respectively.

A total of 257 teams have registered and will participate in the 16 youth events of 2020, a new record for FIBA Europe's busy summers, surpassing the previous record of 256 from 2018.

All 904 games of next summer's events will be produced by FIBA Europe and streamed live on the official FIBA channels.

The 2020 European Youth Championships events hosts are as follows:

MEN

WOMEN

Prior to getting down to business, the Board members had the opportunity to meet and greet with FIBA partners and suppliers in an event organised by FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre on Thursday, as part of their participation in the International trade fair for public space, sports and leisure facilities (FSB) in Cologne.

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

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