By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The first FIBA Executive Committee meeting for the new cycle 2019-2023 took place on Friday at Mies, Switzerland, at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball. Apart reviewing the 2019 FIBA World Cup, assigning hosts for the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and discussing other important matters, FIBA unveiled the Patrick Baumann statue in a special ceremony.
Per FIBA: “In December 2018, FIBA renamed its headquarters to the “Patrick Baumann House of Basketball” to honor the memory of the former Secretary General. Today, in continuation of his memory, FIBA has unveiled a statue of Patrick Baumann, which will reside alongside statues of both William Jones and Borislav Stankovic at the entrance of FIBA Headquarters.
Former Secretary General, Patrick Baumann, a true visionary and leader whose expertise was greatly valued by many organizations, including the International Olympic Committee that he was a member of since 2007, died of a heart attack in October 2018 while attending the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
Since his tragic death, tributes have been made across the world commemorating his life and his dedication to basketball and to sport. Today’s ceremony was attended by Patrick Baumann’s mother and wife, members of the FIBA Executive Committee, the International Basketball Foundation President Horacio Muratore and FIBA Headquarters staff.
Andres Lasanta Jimeno, a Spanish artist who also sculptured both statues of Jones and Stankovic, has created the Patrick Baumann statue from bronze and was also present for the official unveiling.”
Below the synopsis of the Executive Committee meeting: “FIBA’s Executive Committee met Friday at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball, FIBA headquarters, for the first time in the new cycle.
The newly formed Executive Committee for the term 2019-2023, led by FIBA President Hamane Niang and joined by FIBA Honorary President and International Basketball Foundation President Horacio Muratore, focused on the following topics:
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 review
The Executive Committee approved the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 post-event report, including impressive results in attendance, TV and social media. An analysis of the World Cup, which with 32 participating teams has been FIBA’s biggest yet, reflected in the record-breaking global engagement and the ever-increasing popularity of basketball globally.
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020 decision on the Hosts for both men’s and women’s tournaments
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments hosts for 2020 were confirmed:
The National Federations of Canada (Victoria), Croatia (Split), Lithuania (Kaunas) and Serbia (Belgrade) have been awarded the hosting rights of the four FIBA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to be held June 23-28, 2020.
The National Federations Belgium (Ostend), China (Foshan), France (Bourges) and Serbia (Belgrade) have been awarded the hosting rights of the four FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments held from February 6 to 9, 2020.
Youth World Cups
Following an analysis of the hosting of youth events in the last 20 years, the Executive Committee have approved the multi-year hosting model as an alternative model of hosting for the FIBA Youth World Cups (U17 and U19). Hosting consecutive Youth World Cups will offer the potential for better organization and management of the event, as well as maximizing synergies.
Club Competitions
The Executive Committee received a detailed report on the following club competitions: the Basketball Africa League and its Qualifiers currently being played, the successful launch of the Basketball Champions League Americas and an update on the Basketball Champions League in Europe, the FIBA Asia Champions Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
Other important matters included:
- The FIBA consolidated budget for 2020 was approved and the financial plan for the period 2019-2023 has been acknowledged.
- The Corporate risk management report for 2019 was approved.”