MIES (Switzerland) - Some 90 years ago an amazing journey started for the International Basketball Federation, more well known of course by its French acronym, FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur).

Founded and essentially born in Geneva on 18 June 1932, there were eight different founding members. The National Federations of Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland all joined together to take a historical step for the good of the global game.

Up until that moment, basketball had already started spreading rapidly around the world and was not only confined to the American continent, as some had assumed.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, it grew hugely and during 1919 in Paris, there was even a first international basketball tournament called the Inter-Allied Games' which included the United States, France and Italy.

At this time, basketball had clearly taken on an international dimension and it was growing at pace. It's mainly why the American Elmer Berry and the Swiss Leon Bouffard made every effort to create a world governing body for basketball

It was the pair that made the arrangements for the delegates to come together and to write and sign a resolution that established the all-important  birth of FIBA. 

On that same date in 1932, the first by-laws of FIBA and a unified set of playing rules were approved. The founding document was signed by the following representatives of each nation.

1. Attilio PONISIO (Argentina)
2. Simeon MAVROSKOUFIS (Greece)
3. Count Giorgio ASINARI DI SAN MARZANO (Italy)
4. Joseph SHADEIKO (Latvia)
5. Henry BRANDT (Portugal)
6. D.D. TEICA (Romania)
7. Leon BOUFFARD (Switzerland)
8. Ladilslav KAPUCIAN (Czechoslovakia)

Meanwhile, the interpreter invited for the event, William Jones, showed such a great understanding of international basketball and had such good ideas, that he was elected Secretary General on the spot.

FIBA certainly enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence only a few years after forming, as it was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a couple of years later.

And, the rest is history!

FIBA