The Central Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) held its first meeting of 2021 on Friday, March 26, via video conference.
The main topics discussed at the meeting are as follows:
Success of the FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers
Despite the ongoing outbreak, the Central Board received a comprehensive report on the impressive operational work of the FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers, which took place in 14 different cities on five continents in February. In addition to the FIBA Headquarters; The joint effort of regional offices in the continents of Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania once again demonstrated FIBA’s capacity to safely organize operations on such a large scale in difficult times. The majority of the originally scheduled qualifying matches were played at this window, and the teams from Europe and the Americas that qualified for the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and FIBA AmeriCup 2022 were determined. The few remaining matches that will determine the participants of the FIBA Asian Cup 2021 will be played from June 4 to 20 and for FIBA AfroBasket 2021 from June 15 to July 5, 2021.
2021-2023 FIBA competitions and updates on the Olympic Games
Status reports on the FIBA Olympic Games Element, which will start on 29 June in Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia, and the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to take place in July were presented. The board also provided updates on the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cups, which will take place in Riga and Daugavpils, Latvia for men, and Debrecen, Hungary in summer, as well as the FIBA Continental Cups to be held in 2021 and 2022. After receiving a report by the Medical Commission on the preparation of a new COVID-19 protocol for FIBA competitions, the Central Board underlined the importance of vaccinating participants to take part in basketball events, in collaboration with the NBA and the World Health Organization.
3×3 basketball
The board was briefed on the 3×3 basketball season, including the World Tour currently being played in Doha, Qatar, its first stop. The recently approved FIBA 3×3 Basketball Olympic Qualification Tournament will be held in Austria between 26-30 May 2021, and the FIBA 3×3 Basketball Universal Olympic Qualification Tournament will be played in Hungary between 4-6 June 2021.
FIBA Under 15 Talent Tournament 2021
Due to the success of the first edition of the FIBA U17 Skills Challenges 2020, the Central Board received a report on the preparations for the upcoming FIBA U15 Skills Challenges 2021.The format for the FIBA U15 Skills Challenges will consist of 32 participating teams per gender , with qualification open to all 213 National Federation members through Continental Qualifiers. These Qualifiers will take place during late April and early May in Africa, Americas, Asia / Oceania and Europe, with the FIBA U15 Skills Challenge 2021 set to take place in October.
Provisions applicable to internal regulations
The Central Board has implemented new provisions on young players to better protect junior players, as well as national associations and clubs that identify and develop talent. Accordingly, the link between the young players and the national federation that developed them will now be stronger, as players will be restricted from playing in the national team of the country to which they are transferred until the age of 23.
Similarly, FIBA’s right to intervene will now be strengthened to protect the rights of player developing clubs if compensation is paid for young player transfers.
After 15 years of implementation of the agent regulations and their review by the Legal Commission, the Central Board approved some changes designed to empower players in the election of representatives and in addressing conflict of interest situations. Changes to the representative regulations will take effect from January 1, 2022.
National federations
Despite the progress made in recent weeks, the decision to suspend Mexico as a national federation still continues, as it still does not comply with the conditions set by the Executive Committee.
Other issues
The Central Board received updates on three strategic priorities for the 2019-2023 cycle: Strengthening National Federations, Women in Basketball and Expanding the FIBA Family, plus the Players Commission and the FIBA Foundation. In addition, the board approved the audited consolidated financial statements for 2020.
