International Basketball Federation

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International Basketball Federation Fédération Internationale de Basketball

Motto	We Are Basketball
Formation	June 18, 1932
Type	Sport federation
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Membership	213 national federations
Official languages	In official FIBA events only the english language may be used.
Secretary General	Patrick Baumann
President	Bob Elphinston
Key people	George Vassilakopoulos, Borislav Stanković, Manfred Ströher
Website	http://www.fiba.com

Basketball Portal

The International Basketball Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Basketball), more commonly known by the French acronym FIBA (pronounced [fee-buh]), is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball. Originally known as the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the Amateur from its official name but retained the initialism, because of the first two letters of the word basketball.

The FIBA defines the international rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international referees. 213 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones or "commissions": Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

FIBA is a world basketball tournament for men's national teams held quadrennially by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

A parallel event for women's teams, the FIBA World Championship for Women, is also held quadrennially, in the same year as the men's event but in a different country.

The champion team wins the Naismith Trophy, which was first awarded in the 1967 tournament.

The tournament structure is similar but not identical to that of the FIFA World Cup; both of these international competitions have been played in the same year since 1970.

1 History
- 1.1 Presidents
- 1.2 Secretaries General
2 Tournaments
- 2.1 National teams
- 2.2 Clubs
3 FIBA World Rankings
4 External links

[edit] History

Old FIBA logo.

FIBA divides the world into 5 commissions, each roughly based on a continent; North and South America are under one commission.

The association was founded in Geneva in 1932, two years after the sport was officially recognized by the IOC. Its original name was Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur. Eight nations were founding members: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. During the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, the Federation named James Naismith (1861-1939), the founder of basketball, as its Honorary President.

FIBA has organized a World Championship for men since 1950 and a World Championship for Women since 1953. Both events are now held every four years, alternating with the Olympics.

In 1989, FIBA opened the door to Olympic participation by professionals such as players from the NBA in the United States. At this point, the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur became the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, but retained FIBA as an abbreviation.

The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned to Geneva in 2002. Patrick Baumann is the Secretary General of FIBA.

In 1991 it founded FIBA Hall of Fame, the first induction ceremony will be held on September 12, 2007 during EuroBasket 2007.

[edit] Presidents

1932-48: Leon Bouffard
1948-60: Willard Greim
1960-68: Antonio dos Reis Carneiro
1968-76: Abdel Moneim Wahby
1976-84: Gonzalo Puyat
1984-90: Robert Busnel
1990-98: George E. Killian
1998-2006: Abdoulaye Seye Moreau
2006-present: Bob Elphinston

[edit] Secretaries General

1932-76: R. William Jones
1976-95: Bora Stanković
1995-present: Patrick Baumann

[edit] Tournaments

Current champions:

[edit] National teams

Tournament	Men's	Women's	U-21 Men's	U-21 Women's	U-19 Men's	U-19 Women's
Olympics	Argentina	USA	N/A
World Championships	Spain	Australia	Lithuania	USA	Serbia	USA
Commission	Men's	Women's	U-20 Men's	U-20 Women's	U-18 Men's	U-18 Women's
FIBA Africa	Angola	Mali	Nigeria	Mali	Nigeria	Mali
FIBA Americas	USA	USA	USA	USA	USA	USA
FIBA Asia	Iran	Korea	Iran	China	China	China
FIBA Europe	Russia	Russia	Serbia	Russia	Serbia	Spain
FIBA Oceania	Australia	Australia	New Zealand	Australia	Australia	Australia

[edit] Clubs

Tournament	Men's	Women's
NBA	San Antonio Spurs	Phoenix Mercury
Euroleague	CSKA Moscow	Spartak Moscow Region
ULEB Cup	DKV Joventut	N/A
Asian Champions Cup	Saba Battery	N/A
Liga Sudamericana	Regatas de Corrientes	N/A
Africa Cup of Clubs	Primeiro de Agosto
NBL	Melbourne Tigers	Adelaide Lightning

Note: The following competitions are not under the direct control of a FIBA continental confederation:

NBA and WNBA: Both leagues are run by the NBA, which is a separate organization which uses a slightly different rule set than FIBA's. The NBA has 29 teams in the USA plus one in Canada, while the WNBA has 14 teams in the USA only.
The men's Euroleague and ULEB Cup are controlled by ULEB, a consortium of European domestic and transnational leagues, but use FIBA's rule set. (EuroLeague Women, despite the similar name to the men's Euroleague, is run by FIBA Europe.)
The NBL and WNBL are separate organizations based in Australia. Both leagues, which use FIBA rules, have teams throughout Australia plus one in New Zealand, and the (men's) NBL additionally has one team in Singapore.

[edit] FIBA World Rankings

Further information: FIBA World Rankings

#1 men's team: United States
#1 women's team: United States
#1 combined ranking: United States

[edit] External links

International basketball

v • d • e

Africa: FIBA Africa – Africa Championship Americas: FIBA Americas – Americas Championship Asia: FIBA Asia – Asian Championship Europe: FIBA Europe – EuroBasket Oceania: FIBA Oceania – Oceania Championship