By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Board of FIBA Europe which convened in Munich, Germany on Monday discussed a number of topics and took some important decisions.
NATIONAL TEAMS AND CLUB COMPETITIONS
The Board of FIBA Europe was presented with updates on preparations for FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 and FIBA EuroBasket 2017, which will take place in June and August/September respectively; as well as the various workshops with National Federations in Europe regarding the New Competition System and Calendar 2017+.
The members also once again expressed their satisfaction with the current qualification system (windows) for FIBA EuroBasket Women, which proved successful beyond expectations.
Additionally, the Board of FIBA Europe received updates about the current status of European club competitions, including the great success story of the first season of Basketball Champions League, to which the members expressed their unanimous support as a competition promoting sporting merit.
YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018
Following previous approval of an early designation system for organizers of European Youth Championships, the Zone Board approved two organizers for the summer of 2018:
Lithuania was awarded the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship which will be played in Kaunas (both Group and Final Phase).
Latvia will organize the FIBA U18 European Championship in Liepaja and Ventspils (Group Phase) and Riga (Final Phase).
This early designation affects the system of relegation and promotion in the two respective Division A events for the 2017 summer. If either of the 2018 host countries finish among the bottom three in their respective competition, then only two teams will get relegated from that event and only two teams will be promoted from Division B.
FIBA EUROBASKET WOMEN 2019
In its capacity as Zone Board, it noted that four countries have bid to organize FIBA EuroBasket Women 2019: Israel, Latvia, Russia and Serbia.
The event will take place in two of those countries and the final decision will be taken by the Zone Board in an extraordinary session on June 24 in Prague.