New tranche of agents makes grade at FIBA's House of Basketball

MIES - The first crop of newly-certified FIBA agents for 2016 were celebrating after they all made the grade at the FIBA House of Basketball.

Some 12 agents from around the world were put through their paces in Mies, which not only included the test itself, but also presentations on the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) and anti-doping issues.

Yaqoob Mohamed (BRN) and Ahmadou Bamba Ndiaye (SEN)

One of the newly-qualified agents was Ahmadou Bamba Ndiaye of Senegal, who is now looking forward to assisting players from his homeland and beyond.

"Becoming a certified FIBA agent will allow me to help players from Senegal and across Africa show why they can play at a high level," he said. "Secondly I think I can also represent my country and help Senegal have better players by playing not only in Africa but also in Europe for example.

"I really enjoy the management of players and advising them. I currently have players from Mali and Ivory Coast as well as Senegal and some are already playing outside of Africa, as well as in Africa."

Meanwhile Yaqoob Mohamed from Bahrain echoed similar sentiments about his desire to expand the amount of opportunities for players.

"I am here for the Gulf region because basketball is becoming very popular there and the clubs and the [national] federations need help in bringing in the best players," he explained. "By getting certified as an agent,  I can help the clubs get the players with the best skills and also those who bring the best attitude, so that they can transfer their knowledge.

"I can help players who are bound by local regulations to be part of one club for life - which is an unfortunate situation in the region - to be able to have other opportunities and options in their careers."

FIBA is aware of the regulations Mohammed referred to and will continue to request national federations which consider players bound by, at times, lifelong contracts to operate changes in the regulations.

FIBA