PR N°56 - Key appointments headline first meeting of newly-elected Central Board

MIES - FIBA's Central Board convened its first meeting of the 2014-2019 term of office under the leadership of newly-elected President Horacio Muratore on Saturday 13 September. Key appointments were made to complete the composition of the Board and Mr Yvan Mainini was elected President of the International Basketball Foundation (IBF).

With the addition of the following persons, FIBA's Central Board now counts 26 members.

Here is a list of the members appointed to the Board:
- Mr Richard Carrion (PUR), CEO and Chairman of the Board of Popular, Inc., and a Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC);
- Mr Mark Tatum (USA), the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the NBA, as NBA representative;
- Mr Vlade Divac (SRB), President of the National Olympic Committee of Serbia, as Players representative;
- Ms Yulia Anikeeva (RUS), President of the Russian Basketball Federation;
- Mr Manuel V Pangilinan (PHI), President of the Philippines Basketball Federation;
- Mr Erick Thohir (INA), President of the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA).

The Central Board also appointed members to the newly-established Executive Committee. In addition to the ex officio members FIBA President Mr Horacio Muratore (ARG), FIBA Secretary General Mr Patrick Baumann (SUI) and FIBA Treasurer Mr Ingo Weiss (GER), the following Central Board members were invited to join them: Mr Richard Carrion (PUR); Mr Turgay Demirel (TUR), President of FIBA Europe; Mr Hamane Niang (MLI), President of FIBA Africa; Mr Jose Luis Saez (ESP), President of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB); Mr Burton Shipley (NZL), President of FIBA Oceania; Mr Tatum (USA).

The Central Board then proceeded with the appointment of three Vice-Presidents. Mr Niang (MLI), former Minister of Sport of Mali, was appointed First Vice-President of FIBA. He is accompanied by Vice-Presidents Mr Demirel (TUR) and Mr Tian Xiao (CHN), China's Vice Minister of Sport (in charge of basketball).

In response to the various requests received, the Central Board held in-depth discussions regarding rules about uniforms and decided to put a testing phase into place for the next two years that will consist of:
- Relaxing the current rules regarding headgear in order to enable national federations to request,  as of now, exceptions to be applied at the national level within their territory without incurring any sanctions for violation of FIBA's Official Basketball Rules. National Federations wishing to apply for such an exception to the uniform regulations shall submit a detailed request to FIBA. Once approved, they shall submit follow-up reports twice a year to monitor the use of such exceptions.
- The players will be allowed to play in FIBA endorsed 3x3 competitions - both nationally and internationally - wearing headgear without restrictions, unless the latter presents a direct threat to their safety or that of other players on the court. Players wishing to take part in such competitions with headgear must ensure that a detailed request for approval is addressed to FIBA.
- FIBA will communicate with National Federations over the coming weeks on the subject of these request procedures.

The two years will serve as a test period. FIBA, through its competent bodies, will monitor these requests and their implementation from both the technical and sport development perspectives (for example in terms of manufacturing specificities, safety of athletes, look on the field of play and positive development of participation numbers in basketball within the demanding countries).

A first report will be provided to the Central Board in 2015, which will then determine whether tests at the lowest official international level shall be allowed as of next summer. A full review will be done in 2016 to take a decision on whether permanent changes to the Official Basketball Rules shall be made and implemented after the 2016 Olympic Games.

The Central Board discussed the next steps in the implementation of the new calendar and system of competition that comes into effect in 2017 and reviewed matters related to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Finally, it appointed members to the International Basketball Foundation (IBF) and to all its Commissions for the period 2014-2019.

The Board of the IBF met subsequently and elected Mr Mainini, FIBA's Honorary President, and Sheikh Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani (QAT), President of FIBA Asia, respectively as its President and Vice-President.

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FIBA (fiba.com) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 214 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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