SOFIA (Bulgaria) - Bulgaria marked the centennial anniversary of organized basketball in the country on Monday, with FIBA and FIBA Europe representatives honoring the occasion in a celebratory event hosted in Sofia.

With the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and other high-ranking officials in attendance, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Europe President Turgay Demirel and FIBA Europe Executive Director Kamil Novak took part in a breathtaking ceremony organized by the Bulgarian Basketball Federation to commemorate the impressive milestone.

Putting on display the country's glorious basketball past, the event celebrated the achievements of Bulgarian basketball over the past century and paid tribute to the iconic names that stand behind the historic triumphs.

Recent FIBA Hall of Fame inductee Atanas Golomeev was among the many legends honored at the event, alongside Atanas Tonev, Ermila Popova, Valentin Lazarov, Alexander Bozhkov, Ivan Evstatiev and Simeon Varchev and others. Also in attendance were the country's European champions and Olympic medalists. 

Having enjoyed its basketball heyday from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, Bulgaria has left a deep imprint in European basketball history with a great many successes over the years, crowned by the famous FIBA Women's EuroBasket title in 1958 and an extensive collection of medals from continental and global competitions.

"It is my great honor to be here in Sofia for a truly special occasion to mark the centenary of basketball in Bulgaria," Mr. Demirel said in his speech.

"The 100-year anniversary is a great time to reflect on all of what has happened and also to look ahead. You have a proud history to lean on and get inspired from. For the next century to come, I would like to wish all of our basketball friends in Bulgaria many more successes on the basketball courts around Europe and beyond."

Meanwhile Mr. Zagklis said: "I would like to congratulate the Bulgarian basketball community on the 100-year anniversary. The impressive photo exhibition is testament to the fact that this country has been among the pioneers in Women’s basketball. We are grateful to the thousands of volunteers who laid the foundation for Bulgaria to have big successes, the first home-grown European to play in the NBA and several FIBA Hall of Famers. The Federation has also proven to be a solid event organizer and we are glad to bring the FIBA U17 World Cup to Sofia next year."

During the event, a special photo exhibition was on display documenting the early days of Bulgarian basketball, as well as its biggest achievements.

As part of their visit Mr. Demirel, Mr. Zagklis and Mr. Novak were also received by Bulgaria's Minister of Youth and Sports Krassen Kralev alongside the President of Bulgarian Basketball Federation Georgi Glushkov, himself a FIBA Europe Board member.

Among other topics, FIBA and FIBA Europe representatives discussed with the local authorities the upcoming edition of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup set to take place in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on June 4-12, 2020 and the FIBA U16 European Championship 2020, Division B, also to be hosted in Sofia on August 13-22, 2020.

FIBA