MIES - FIBA's Technical Commission is convening a two-day meeting on Tuesday-Wednesday 19-20 May at the House of Basketball and right from the start, the panel has held productive conversations about how to make the most of its increased role.

The Technical Commission is the body competent for all matters concerning the interpretation and application of the Official Basketball Rules and the state of the game around the world.

The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Patrick Hunt, said: "At the World Congress last year in Sevilla, Spain, the regulations and responsibilities of the Technical Commission were broadened to be responsible for the state of the game for all participants which includes players, coaches and referees principally but we take into account the views of fans and other stakeholders.

"We had a workshop this morning on the new direction for the Technical Commission and we had three small working groups set up to discuss how we can be more effective and we exchanged ideas on how to gather information that will influence the discussions and recommendations that we make to the Central Board. It was very productive and we had full engagement from all participants.

"We now have three women on the Technical Commission which has expanded in numbers to 19 and all were very excited and enthusiastic about our new role.

"Of course the principle aim of the Commission remains and that's to ensure we have very qualified refereeing and referees, as well as come up with ideas about the rules and interpretations of the rules."

The duties of the Technical Commission include:
- To monitor the state of the game around the world and across the various national federations and propose to the Central Board any measures deemed useful to improve the technical level of its participants and the development of the sport.
- To draw up the text of the Official Basketball Rules, draft amendments to these rules for adoption by the Central Board, give the official interpretation of the rules and solve doubtful cases or cases not clearly covered by the rules themselves.
- To be responsible for the training, examination and qualification of all FIBA international referees, supervisors, instructors and commissioners as well as for preparing them for international competitions for men's and women's basketball.

FIBA's Technical Commission for 2014-2019 consists of:
Chairman:
Hunt, Patrick - Australia

Deputy-Chairman:
Kotleba, Lubomir - Slovak Republic

Members:
Aguilar Lopez, Elisa - Spain
Al-Zadjali, Younis - Oman
Auriemma, Geno - USA
Bachanski, Grzegorz - Poland
Basko-Melnbarde, Gunta - Latvia
Brazauskas, Romualdas - Lithuania
Davydov, Mikail - Russia
De Vincenzi, Jean-Pierre - France
Ivkovic, Dusan - Serbia
Manjour, Abdelraouf - Tunisia
Mas Rafols, Victor - Spain
Mildenhall, William - Australia
Rigas, Costas - Greece
Seah, Liang Bing - Singapore
Tanabe, Hiroko - Japan
Thorn, Rodney King - USA
Divac, Vlade - Serbia

FIBA