International Basketball Federation Information & International Basketball Federation Links at HealthHaven.com

International Basketball Federation
*Fédération Internationale de Basketball*
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	English, French, Spanish, Russian, German
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 /ˈfiːbə/ FEE-bə), 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.

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. A total of 214 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones or "commissions": Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

The FIBA World Championship is a world basketball tournament for men's national teams hosted 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, named in honor of basketball's creator James Naismith, which was first awarded in 1967 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The tournament structure is similar but not identical to that of the FIFA World Cup; each of these tournaments have occurred in the same year since 1970.

In 2009 FIBA announced three new tournaments: two 12-team U-17 World Championships (one each for men and women) that will be played in July 2010, and an eight-team FIBA World Club Championship to be launched in October 2010.

[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 was held on September 12, 2007 during EuroBasket 2007.

[edit] Presidents

1932-48: Leon Bouffard

1932-39: James A. Naismith (honorary)

1948-60: Willard Greim
1960-68: Antonio dos Reis Carneiro
1968-76: Abdel Moneim Wahby
1976-84: Gonzalo Puyat II
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-19 Men's	U-19 Women's	U-17 Men's	U-17 Women's
World Championship	Spain	Australia	USA	USA
Olympics	USA	USA	N/A
Commission	Men's	Women's	U-18 Men's	U-18 Women's	U-16 Men's	U-16 Women's
FIBA Africa	Angola	Senegal	Egypt	Mali	Egypt	Mali
FIBA Americas	Brazil	Brazil	Argentina	USA	USA	USA
FIBA Asia	Iran	China	Iran	Japan
FIBA Europe	Spain	France	Serbia	Spain	Spain	Spain
FIBA Oceania	New Zealand	Australia	Australia	Australia	Australia	Australia

Commission	U-20 Men's	U-20 Women's
FIBA Europe	Greece	France

FIBA no longer holds Under-21 World Championships and Under-20 Zone Championships, except in Europe. ^[2]

[edit] Clubs

FIBA Tournament	Men's	Women's
World Club Championship	Upcoming
Women's World League	Defunct
FIBA Americas League	Universo BRB	N/A
FIBA Asia Champions Cup	Mahram Tehran	N/A
FIBA Africa Champions Cup	Primeiro de Agosto	N/A
EuroChallenge/EuroLeague Women	Virtus Bologna	Spartak Moscow Region
EuroCup Women	N/A	Galatasaray
European SuperCup	N/A	Spartak Moscow Region
Tournament	Men's	Women's
NBA/WNBA	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Mercury
Euroleague	Panathinaikos	N/A
ULEB Eurocup	Lietuvos Rytas	N/A
Liga Sudamericana	Flamengo	N/A
Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes	Club Biguá de Villa Biarritz	N/A
NBL/WNBL (Australia)	South Dragons	Canberra Capitals
NBL (New Zealand)	Waikato Pistons	N/A

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, a separate organization. The NBA uses a slightly different set of rules for its own league, while the WNBA uses a hybrid ruleset combining NBA and FIBA rules. The NBA has 29 teams in the USA plus one in Canada, while the WNBA has 13 teams in the USA only.
The men's Euroleague is totally controlled by ULEB, a consortium of European domestic and transnational leagues. The ULEB Eurocup, known as the ULEB Cup until the 2008-09 season, is jointly run by ULEB and FIBA Europe, but only the two preliminary rounds of that competition are run by FIBA Europe. Both competitions, however, use FIBA's rule set. However, both the EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women, despite the similar names to the corresponding men's competitions, are completely controlled by FIBA Europe.
The Liga Sudamericana and the Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes is operated by the South American Basketball Confederation, an affiliate of FIBA Americas.
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.
There is another NBL based in New Zealand. It features teams from New Zealand.
The Philippine Basketball Association based in the Philippines. The the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the National Basketball Association of the United States.

[edit] FIBA World Rankings

Further information: FIBA World Rankings

#1 men's team: Argentina
#1 women's team: USA
#1 combined ranking: USA

[edit] References

^ 2006 General Statutes of FIBA, Article 37.6
^ Basketball Australia - FIBA will no longer hold world championships in this age group. (U21)

[edit] External links

[0] 2006 General Statutes of FIBA, Article 37.6

[1] Basketball Australia - FIBA will no longer hold world championships in this age group. (U21)

[1]

[2]

Contents