CZE - President Vaclav Klaus took a patronage over championship

PRAHA (2010 FIBA World Championship for Women) -The New Year brought great news for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women as Vaclav Klaus, the President of the host nation Czech Republic, was made patron of the tournament which will take place in September and October.

At the announcement of the official partnership between the head of the Czech state and the championship’s organising committee, Mr Klaus – a former basketball player himself – took time to answer a few questions.

FIBA: Mr President, why did you decide to take patronage over the FIBA World Championship for Women? Is it a role that was automatically given to you because of your status as head of state?

“Being a patron is not something I get to do automatically. I receive a lot of requests to serve in that role but I have to carefully choose which ones I accept. This will be a very special role because I will have to be present at the tournament. I did not want to be made a patron for an event that I’m not able to attend because I am too busy. In the case of the FIBA World Championship for Women, I knew I would be attending so that is why I did not hesitate in being involved with it.”

FIBA: Will your role as patron be limited to just the tournament itself or will you be using of your position and status to support the promotion and preparation of the competition?

“For now I do not know exactly what can be done but obviously this is a very important tournament and we want to make it a huge success. It is our goal to showcase the Czech Republic in the best light possible and also to ensure that spectators and fans turn out to fill the stands. That is perhaps my biggest concern and it is why I welcome the fact that cities other than Prague were chosen to host this competition. I am from Prague and have spent most of my life there but I admit that it is a city which is a bit spoiled in regards to hosting events. That is why I think that Brno, Ostrava and Karlovy Vary will relish the opportunity they have been given to host this tournament and they will make the most of it. As far as my role in all of this, I will gladly do whatever is required of me to promote the tournament.”

FIBA: What goals and dreams do you have for the Czech Republic in this tournament?

“It would be a great achievement for our country to experience some significant success in a team sport event. We have a lot of individual athletes and sports figures who have accomplished a lot but in terms of team sports, we have not had much to celebrate lately. The women’s national basketball team offers us great hope and I hope they can achieve great things in this tournament.”

FIBA: How often can we expect to see you in the stands come tournament time?

“Right now I don’t know exactly but I will do my best to be there as much as possible. I only hope that I will not bring the team bad luck which I think I did at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. I was in the stands for their crushing game against Spain. We were leading but Spain made a three-point shot from half court to tie the game in the last second and we lost in overtime. I hope that my presence will not cause anything like that this time.”

LOC - 2010 FIBA World Championship