MIES, Switzerland - The Executive Committee of FIBA met on Tuesday-Wednesday 19-20 January and made important decisions while also providing updates on major projects.

The Executive Committee announced France, Italy, Philippines and Serbia as the host countries for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and Women.

The Mexican Basketball Federation (ADEMEBA) was re-instated after FIBA's Executive Committee received confirmation from the Mexican state authorities in charge of sport (CONADE) that it had formally recognised ADEMEBA as the sole governing body for basketball in the country. As a result, Mexico's team will take its place in one of the OQTs in a bid to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The Executive Committee received an update on the progress made by the working groups of leading European national federations and domestic leagues working together in the implementation of the Basketball Champions League, which will be officially presented in Paris on 20-21 March. The league will tip off in the 2016-2017 season.

On the matter of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the Executive Committee was presented with and approved guidelines for the qualifiers of FIBA's flagship event, which get underway in November 2017. It also received encouraging reports from FIBA’s Media and Marketing Services (FMMS) of the attractiveness of basketball and of FIBA's new competition system.

Finally, it approved the establishment of FIBA offices in China to assist the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in preparing for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. These offices will be under the leadership of Mr Qiang Zhou, new Event Director. 

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.com) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 215 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
 
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