By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Preparations for approaching continental cups were the main topic for the first meeting of the FIBA Executive Committee in 2025.
Following international tournaments, including the FIBA World Cup 2027, were also discussed in the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball.
Empowering national federations, women in basketball, and international club competitions emerged as three strategic priorities.
FIBA shared additional details stemming from the meeting on Friday.
Per the press release: “FIBA’s Executive Committee has met at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball with a full agenda for the first meeting of the year. The following key topics were discussed:
FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers 2025
The Executive Committee received detailed reports on the recent completion of the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers, the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, and the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers. Basketball fans from across the globe flocked to watch crucial qualifying games during the final international window for the FIBA Continental Cups, with the largest crowds consisting of over 11,000 in Shenzhen to watch China face Japan and in Riga to see Latvia play Spain.
FIBA Men’s and Women’s Continental Cups 2025
Preparation reports were delivered for the upcoming Continental Cups, taking place this year for both men and women.
The leading stars in women’s global basketball are set to participate in the various Continental competitions taking place in 2025, with the tournaments scheduled as follows:
FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025
June 18 to 29 in Brno, Czechia; Hamburg, Germany; Bologna, Italy; Piraeus, Greece
FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2025
June 28 to July 6 in Santiago, Chile
FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2025
July 13 to 20 in Shenzhen, China
FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025
July 25 to August 3 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
The men’s Continental Competitions will follow shortly after and are scheduled as follows:
FIBA Asia Cup 2025
August 5 to 17 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
FIBA AfroBasket 2025
August 12 to 25 in Luanda, Angola
FIBA AmeriCup 2025
August 22 to 31 in Managua, Nicaragua
FIBA EuroBasket 2025
August 27 to September 14 in Limassol, Cyprus; Tampere, Finland; Katowice, Poland and Riga, Latvia
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027
A report was received on the preparations for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026, which will be played in the German capital of Berlin, with a site visit taking place in early March. A new competition schedule has been approved to increase spectator attendance and maximize the exposure of the event.
The Executive Committee also approved the bidding process for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments. Applications will be invited in May by National Federations, with the final decision on the hosts to be made by October 2025. The tournaments will feature 24 teams divided into four groups of six teams, each playing in a round-robin format, qualifying the best 16 teams in the world to the women’s flagship event in Berlin.
Strategic Priorities
An executive summary on the three strategic priorities was presented to the Executive Committee, which included the following highlights:
- Empower National Federations: FIBA has prioritized empowering National Federations through a variety of initiatives. A total of 112 National Federations were supported through FIBA Plus activities in 2024.
- Women in Basketball: FIBA’s highly successful Her World, Her Rules (HWHR) program opened its application process to National Federations for the latest funding round of the grassroots initiative for 2025. A total of 85 countries were supported by the program in 2024.
- Shape International Club Competitions: FIBA’s club competitions are currently in the midst of their 24/25 season for most leagues, including the Basketball Champions League, BCL Americas, and WASL. The BCL Asia East will tip off later this month for its inaugural season, serving as the qualification for BCL Asia. The Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2025 season is set to begin soon, following the recent conclusion of the Road to BAL. Additionally, FIBA has successfully launched women’s leagues in four regions, with the Women’s Basketball League Africa 2024, Women’s Basketball League Americas 2024, and Women’s Basketball League Asia 2024 all taking place last year. The EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women 24/25 seasons are now entering their final stages.
3×3
A comprehensive report on 3×3 achievements in 2024 highlighted its record-breaking digital engagement, further solidifying its status as the world’s fastest-growing urban sport. 2024 was an action-packed year, featuring a 17-stop World Tour, 20 Women’s Series stops and the historic Olympic Games in Paris.
Preparations are well underway for the 3×3 Champions Cup 2025, debuting this week in Thailand, as well as the FIBA 3×3 World Cup 2025 later this year in Mongolia.
National Federation Matters
The Executive Committee approved the agreement between the Brazilian Basketball Confederation and the men’s National League in the country. This marks a major step towards the further development of basketball in the country, following a successful period for the men’s national team, qualifying for the Olympics and finishing seventh in Paris, and the clubs with Sesi Franca winning the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2023.
The successful conclusion of the 10-year (2014-2024) Japan Task Force operations was acknowledged with the approval of the final report, which has seen the Japan Basketball Association and the B League among the fastest developing federations and leagues in the world, respectively.
Furthermore, the status of Russia and Belarus has been extended until the next FIBA Central Board meeting which will take place in May 2025.”