Raimonds Vējonis, Latvia Basketball Association President
23/01/2020
FIBA Family
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Former Latvia President Vejonis takes helm of country's basketball association

RIGA (Latvia) - Raimonds Vejonis, the former President of the Republic of Latvia, is now at the head of the country's basketball association. The 53-year-old was elected on Tuesday at the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) assembly. 

In a tweet, Vejonis said: "Thank you all for your support! I will be honored to work to combine the energy and knowledge of basketball people for the long-term development of Latvian basketball! I am convinced that together we can make basketball the No. 1 sport in Latvia!"

Vejonis was elected as his country's ninth president on June 3, 2015, and took office on July 8, going on to serve for four years.

A basketball fan his entire life, Vejonis played pick-up games with friends even after his election as the leader of his country before stopping following a health scare. His enthusiasm for the game was also evident after the election when he accepted an invitation to attend the Kings of Air Dunking Contest in Riga and also was in attendance at the recent FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019. 

He has always been a fan of the Ogre Basketball Club and even served as its president.

Gints Siviņs, speaking for the Ogre club, said of Vejonis to Latvian website sportacentrs.com: “For several years, Raimonds Vejonis has supported basketball in general. Mr. Vejonis is interested in the development of youth basketball and wants the LBS Board to include representatives from both the Youth Commission and the Coaching Commission, 3x3 Basketball and Women's Basketball. His vision is good. It is also important that he has extensive experience as a politician in dealing with issues in the corridors of power. There are quite a few things going on right now, albeit with the same issue of donations and decisions regarding the development of youth sports." 

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