LJUBLJANA (Slovenia) - The newly elected FIBA Europe Board, term of office 2023-2027, held its first meeting in Ljubljana, with the Final Phase of FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 taking place in the Slovenian capital.

The meeting which was chaired by FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa, was attended by FIBA President Hamane Niang, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak.

As a special guest, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin opened the meeting, greeting all participants in his native country.

Vice-Presidents, Commission members, Working Groups appointed

The Board unanimously approved Mr. Garbajosa's proposal for the three new Vice-Presidents of FIBA Europe – Matej Erjavec (Slovenia), Carmen Tocala (Romania) and Hannes Jonsson (Iceland).

Also unanimously approved were all proposals regarding the compositions of the Executive Committee, the different permanent Commissions, three new Working Groups, and two co-opted Members to the Board: Tomas Van Den Spiegel , the President of ULEB; and Darius Gudelis, Chairman of the Board of BC Rytas Vilnius and Lithuanian Basketball Federation Board member.

Mr. John Goncalves (Gibraltar) was appointed as chairperson for the Management Committee which will supervise the Youth Development Fund, Her World Her Rules and all other FIBA Europe development projects.

The full lists can be downloaded HERE.

FIBA Women's EuroBasket

In his remarks, Mr. Garbajosa had a special mention to the excellent organization of Women's EuroBasket by both Slovenia and Israel.

He emphasized that FIBA Europe, with a strategic objective of prioritizing excellence at its events, will utilize its competent commissions to thoroughly assess all aspects of the current event and identify areas for improvement, with the aim of enhancing the competition's appeal to both fans and teams alike.

The Board tasked the office of FIBA Europe with discussing directly with interested National Federations the possibility of a direct host assignation for Women’s EuroBasket 2025 and the Executive Committee to approve any such assignment in the coming months.

The Board also approved the timeline for the bid for Women’s EuroBasket 2027 with the process starting in July and the hosts expected to be confirmed during the next Board meeting in Autumn 2023.

FIBA EuroBasket

Following recommendations by National Federations and an evaluation by the Competitions Commission seeking to protect the health and well-being of the players, the Board approved a proposal to add an extra rest day to the competition system of EuroBasket 2025 and two extra days as of the 2029 edition of the event.

The Board approved a request of the four hosts of EuroBasket 2025 for an early designation of the four groups to each city. This will take place during the last two days of the Women’s EuroBasket in Ljubljana.

Miscellaneous

The Board heard updates on the ongoing talks between FIBA/FIBA Europe and Euroleague Commercial Assets, regarding the calendar and structure of European club competitions.

The next Board meeting will take place at the House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 212 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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