By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis met with the press today in the “House of Basketball”, located at the Swiss village of Mies. It was an open discussion about all the crucial matters of the sport on a global and European level.
However, Zagklis sets the bar high speaking about the goal of making Basketball the top sport in the world. As he said in his opening statement: “I welcome you all to the FIBA house. Our goal is to make basketball the most popular sport in the world. The late Patrick Baumann brought me to the World Federation. As you know, we lost him under circumstances we’ll never forget. We are obligated to continue his work by doing a lot of work ourselves and good management. We must continue the mission he had begun and develop other projects too. We are at the end of a circle. For the first time, this circle lasts for five years and not four due to the change we made with the World Cup. We must present a top tournament in China, a country that has invested so much in organizing the World Cup”.
Of course, the FIBA windows was the next topic on the table: “The “Windows” have very specific principals: For the national teams to play at home and away from it and have the opportunity to fight for qualification. This is something we had requested from many Federations. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of discussion for the fact that the clubs don’t give permission to the players to compete. That’s how the situation is. We left a summer empty of games every four years for the players. This format gives us the opportunity to expand in other countries and audiences that aren’t very familiar with the sport. You’ve seen the growth numbers on all levels regarding the Qualifiers. It’s something that especially pleases us”.
On the EuroLeague front, Zagklis believes that there’s a need for cooperation “at the highest level”: “The FIBA family appreciates EuroLeague members attending the funeral of Mr. Baumann and they also sent a congratulatory letter for my election. There have been many talks in the past. Me, as well as EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu are lawyers and have a similar background. We have to find a form of cooperation at the highest level and this can happen only through dialogue”.
Solution via a unified calendar
And that’s why Zagklis is open on the matter of calendar: “If you sit on a table to talk, then many solutions can be found, even if every side has to make some concessions. My intention isn’t to extend this “warlike atmosphere”. There are legal procedures that are in development and work in the same rhythm. I know that you prefer to write about basketball. Legal services are working on all those matters and, as I said when I was elected, there’s no need for missals, but to find solutions. At some time, we will sit on a table and must find solutions in a couple of things. The balance between the clubs and the competitions they participate and national teams’ tournaments. This is the only way and that’s how the “pie” will be larger and become enough for everyone. This is the only way for me. Regarding the calendar, we must cooperate in working with each other. Not how one will create problems to the other. I don’t want to go into details. One of the past mistakes was that many things were becoming widely known and evolved in a public arena. My intention is that all those discussions and negotiations should take place in a private environment. The basketball tradition in Europe is a great one. But the councils in all continents aren’t happy to constantly hear about the matter that troubles the European community”.
And that calendar will include the Intercontinental Cup. “We made a big step forward”, said Zagklis. “We showed that we have excellent cooperation with the NBA. The next step is to have the FIBA Asia Cup champion. I believe it will be the next addition while developing this tournament’s roster. The Brazilian Federation does a great job to carry out a very qualitative tournament. Then we will expand in other continents”.
And on the European club level, FIBA is satisfied with the growth of BCL: “It’s a league that has been going on for three years and, as of now, the improvement on all levels makes us happy. The improvement that has to do with the team rosters, competitiveness, and suspense. The Federations owns 50% in the competition, but we want much more. The clubs participate because they have a good run in their national leagues and this is a very right principal for a league. BCL has clubs from over 20 countries and isn’t limited to 7-8 countries. The league has done great leaps in its second and third year regarding the money that it can offer to the participants. The more you show that you can properly organize a league and improve it, the more the people’s attention increases – as it is happening right now – the more likely that the level is improved. BCL is a league that many countries want and provides an example to other continents to cooperate with it. If we compare the rosters in this third season with the first, there’s a clear difference. It’s a project that gives value to the Rankings of domestic leagues and helps them.
The future
For Zagklis, the future of the sports depends on the cooperation of all basketball stakeholders from all over the world: “I know very well the importance of my role. We have an immediate priority which is the World Cup. We are preparing some things for the China tournament that haven’t ever been done before. It’s an important thing to take care of our players and provide them with the most important experience. We want to attract more young kids. Our first priority is the World Cup. Then to initiate our plans for the next circle that begins after the summer. Our third priority is to turn basketball into a basketball family”.
“We have regulations that involve all levels. When we make changes, there’s a big impact. If, for example, we want to make the court larger, that will mean a great cost for changes in all arenas in the world. As of now, I’m very satisfied with our cooperation with the NBA. This allows us to discuss how the changes in the rules affect the sport. We carefully try to look if there’s the capacity to do it. If a change helps basketball, we are happy to be a part of it.”
And he is not turning a blind eye on issues, like fixed games: “It’s a global phenomenon. We see it affect even young people in sports all over the world. FIBA rules in this matter are in harmony with this of the Olympic Committee. We have fewer incidents than other sports”.