By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With Greece, Slovenia, and Latvia among the teams already qualified for the FIBA World Cup and Serbia having a good chance to do so over Turkey in the upcoming February qualifiers, what started in September in Europe can continue on the global stage.
FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis explained in his end-of-the-year press conference what he expects and why stressing the modification made compared to the previous World Cup in China.
Players like the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo, Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic, Serb back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic and possibly French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama can spearhead once more the interest for the biggest FIBA tournament of the year, as things are building up for the 2024 Olympics.
“We are confident we will build on the success of intercontinental cups,” said FIBA Secretary General answering Eurohoops’ question. “EuroBasket was indeed very successful. All the indications from our discussions with the federations and the NBA are that the expectations are high for players to participate in the World Cup. It’s an event that we’ll make sure, in terms of conditions, very attractive for the players.”
To be exact, accommodation and traveling will be much better for all players involved: “The upcoming World Cup will have new elements for players’ experience. For the first time, we’ll have a single-room policy for all teams. We’ll have a reduction in transfers. It will be only one transfer, and it’s only for those who’ll play the first two rounds in Japan or Indonesia. The 16 teams that will be drawn in Manilla won’t be transferred. And also, there will be no transfer after the first Round. So, the first and second rounds will be played in the same place where the teams play in Group Phase. Following the requests of players and coaches, after the transfer, the teams will have an extra day of rest”.
Those moves are answering concerns that were voiced after the previous experience in the FIBA World Cup in China, where teams had to travel between four different cities from the start until the end of the tournament, creating a debate, especially about the teams which got an extra day of rest, due to the schedule.
And FIBA hopes that the World Cup will be even more attractive to the US NBA stars: “It is true that the World Cup and the Olympic Games are the two main events in the four-year cycle of the calendar. I think we will have the opportunity to see even more players from the US in the near future in the FIBA World Cup and I think as an event it will be in an even better position because of the investment that FIBA is making in it. In our NBA discussions, the matter of the US national team roster is a priority, and how this can be the best possible. We need two outstanding USA rosters in the four-year cycle. One at the Olympics and one at the World Cup. And this is something that will give an extra boost to the popularity of the sport when we talk about its relationship with the USA. When it comes to non-US players, I’m happy to say that they have shown their commitment to the national teams. From our side, what we do is to constantly upgrade the conditions for them, so that they feel that when they represent their country, together with their teammates, they have fantastic conditions and an excellent cultural experience”.
Zagklis also addressed the issue of the complaints about the level of the referees in the Eurobasket, which he admitted as also the fact that due to the conflict with the EuroLeague – which isn’t going to end any time soon – the referees calling EuroLeague games will continue to not be included in the FIBA tournaments: “We want to have more talent, but we’re bringing new talent every time, referees from other continents. This is FIBA trying to protect the work the federations are doing. We believe in referees being developed by federations. This isn’t about us being discriminatory or exclusive. It’s about institutional collaboration that can’t exist at this time”.
Speaking about the Olympics, Zagklis admitted that FIBA accepted the proposal to have the preliminary games at Lille, in Stade Pierre-Mauroy saying “the games in Paris are the first to be held under the new framework, which allows qualifying rounds to be held outside the main host city of the Games. We accepted clear requests from the organizing committee with the note that basketball must contribute to the financial success of the Games. We can compromise on where the qualifying round of the Olympic Games will take place, but we cannot compromise on issues related to the health and safety of our athletes. This means, and it has been communicated by the IOC at Paris 2024, that the work that has been done to date must be completed in order to be sure that the conditions in the stadium where the games will be played and where we played our games at EuroBasket 2015, will be ideal in a city like Lille, where, as we know, there’s a lot of humidity”.
Among other topics, the FIBA secretary general talked about the challenges that FIBA faces on the 90th anniversary of its foundation, which still includes COVID, the war in Ukraine, and also impressive progress in the 3X3 events all around the world, the women’s FIBA World Cup, stressing the strategic plan for the growth of women’s basketball.
On that note, he also hailed the release of Brittney Griner: “I can simply say, I am very happy that she’s back home and that she’s well. There are other priorities for her … but hopefully she can find the motivation, the will, and the desire to come back on the court.”