By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis and FIBA itself have a roadmap that covers the next Olympic circle, and as they say, when something – mostly – works, don’t fix it.
In the wrap-up press conference of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Zagklis met with the international press and he presented numbers that are really impressive about the growth of the tournament while giving solid answers to most issues, with only one possible exception concerning Luka Doncic.
As Zagklirs said about the event: “We expect to reach the 700.000 mark in tickets sold and in terms of percentages there was 85% occupancy in Okinawa, 60% in Jakarta, and the final figures for Manila tonight will be known tonight, but they are also expected to be big. In terms of the television audience, the crucial game of Japan for the Olympic qualification was the program with the biggest audience of the year in Japan. In the Philippines, the game for the spot in the pre-Olympic qualifiers had the second biggest audience of the year, plus we had big television shares in South Sudan, Slovenia, and Serbia. In total, there are more than 10 billion impressions on social media, double the number from the 2019 World Cup in China. We tripled the video views three times and we got two million new followers on all platforms combined”.
Plus the players got treated in the best way ever at a FIBA event: “Our players’ experience started with a dedicated program in China and was taken this year on a totally different level. We had fewer transfers. There was only one trip to make with a charter flight by FIBA from those qualified for the quarterfinal from Japan and Indonesia, plus an extra day of rest. No back-to-back with only one exception in the classification games, single rooms for the players, covered by FIBA, dedicated player lounges with former players being the liaisons between the federations and FIBA and advising us, and facilities that included among others bars, and barber shops”.
That’s why Zagklis wanted to thank the local organizers: “We want to thank from the bottom of our hearts, those three LOCs, the governments, and federations. They delivered with flying colors, they are proud and we are proud of them”.
Of course, Zagklis didn’t forget the two sad incidents of the event: “I want to publicly express our condolences to the Federation of the Dominican Republic for the passing of Bladimir Regalado and wishes for a speedy recovery for Borisa Simanic”.
Especially for the Simanic incident, Zagklis added: “Ιndeed those who have seen the video can say it’s a one-in-a-million or in-a-billion situation. FIBA LOC had already selected certain hospitals that would be available, and FIBA has appointed doctors for such cases. The Serbian national team doctor Dragan Radovanovic is also part of the FIBA medical committee. Of course, the player is insured, we are in contact with the federation and I want to publicly acknowledge the role of Dr. Radovanovic in this process”.
The Doncic case and the naturalized players
The FIBA secretary-general was asked about the money gesture of Luka Doncic towards the FIBA VIP section in the quarterfinal game against Canada. Zagklis practically preferred not to make any comment, confirming that both sides want to move on: “I don’t think there’s something I should really comment on. These are actions by the players on the court. That’s why the referees are there. They’re taking care of what’s going on. The game moves on and life moves on.”
He was also asked about the naturalized players and the fact that Eric Gordon, a former Team USA player, changed nationality and competed for the Bahamas. Zagklis stated that the current rule will not change and the few exceptions that are permitted upon his discretion will be rare: “We will not go in that direction, following FIFA (ed. note: where changing nationalities between national teams is much easier). We have two or three markets that produce players and if we do that, it will lead to national teams that will have to do very little or have no relation to the level of basketball of each country. There will be only one naturalized player on each team and the criteria are clear. Many federations when they have a case, want the rule to change, but nobody so far has proposed something better than that. We are sticking to this rule and I know that I have to use my discretion very carefully or else the Pandora box will open”.
The Olympic qualifiers and the back-to-back World Cups with the Olympics
Zagklis was asked about the progress of the sport and the parity that was witnessed in the World Cup. As he said: “Parity is good because it means competitiveness and it’s excellent if it happens with a high level of play. We have a bigger depth on the roster of countries that have played in the tournament this year. There’s no doubt that qualification games have changed international basketball. We have seen a high level of play. And also we look a lot at how a country breaks its own ceiling. We do appreciate the fact that the “Road to Manila” which was a long process, created rosters that were not of one use, and then each team plagued into them their other pieces. If we have not reached this level, the fact is that playing someone better than you makes you get better and that’s the idea of expansion”.
However, those “other pieces’, namely NBA players, are not easy to be available at the World Cup, when they will have to play in back-to-back summers for the national team if they want also to be in the Olympics.
Zagklirs understands the issue but also appreciates the value of having a World Cup, where the qualification to the Olympics is on the line, giving meaning even to classification games.
As he said: “We took the big decision to have one summer free in each Olympic circle, it’s the summer of the women’s world cup. We say that the calendar has essentially big billers. The World Cup which is our flagship event, allows us to make development on every level. The link to the Olympics is making this event special. Being 22nd or 29th makes a big difference because it gives a spot to the Olympic qualifiers. No other World Championship and World Cup has so much interest so late in the classifications. This is something very difficult to sacrifice. We must look at it on a four-year circle, some players will not be always available anyway, and as I said recently, wherever we have the players available we will give them the best service. What we really have to do is to provide that”.
Speaking about the potential hosts of upcoming Olympic qualifiers, which will be decided by November, Zagklis added that nothing is set in stone about the candidates and having the four tournaments on different continents: “Just depends on the candidatures and the decision of the central board. The rules don’t ask us to split the tournaments between continents, even if in theory it would be good. It’s very close to the Olympics, we are the last sport that has teams qualifying for the Olympics with special permission. We wanted to avoid what happened in 2012, when national leagues ended just on the day before the start of the qualifiers, and to give some oxygen to the teams in terms of time. We will examine the candidacies and the conditions for the players will be crucial. It would be good if we went to another continent, but nothing can be said in advance”.
The EuroLeague issue
Speaking about EuroLeague and the calendar, Zagklis confirmed again the will of FIBA to find a solution to the issue but also clarified that at this point the upcoming season is just a one-off deal, so the talks are ongoing: “I think FIBA has been very clear and very consistent. It wants to eliminate this kind of overlap on the calendar and it’s ready to sit down and discuss things on a productive matter. We were the ones who initiated the talks and brought the NBA into this discussion. Don’t forget that this World Cup started one week earlier”.
According to Zagklis, the change of management in the EuroLeague delayed things: “The conversation has not been consistent because there were three different CEOs. We had a constructive discussion and you have seen a small but very substantial step. I am always optimistic and I know that we are not trying to hurt our clubs, but help. We avoided the overlap we have taken exceptional measures with games only in February and that’s the only way to get the pie bigger”.
Also, Zagklis clarified concerning recent reports that there’s no prize money for the teams in the FIBA World Cup, but money given by FIBA to help them with the expenses: “There’s no prize money for the World Cup. FIBA is supporting the federations and we have contributed to their expenses. Since the World Cup which was held in Spain, each federation got 50.000 euros. The amount was 100.000 in China and this time around we had 50.000 plus 100.000 for the teams that made it to the Top 16 because they have many expenses. We are a non-profit organization and the money we generate is given to our development programs”.
Speaking on financial issues, Zagklis also admitted that the pricing of the World Cup tickets in the Philippines was “not successful” compared to what was expected with the result of having enough empty seats on some games: “The pricing of the tickets which was decided by the local committee, and approved by FIBA on some categories was not successful. The second and third tiers of tickets were not full, while the fourth and the fifth plus the first tier were sold out. This happened several times. Of course, when the local team is playing is very difficult to fill the other venue. We would like to have a little more attendance in Manila. Considering also that before the games we had some big storms and people had bought a ticket and may have not arrived, may have played a role. However, we were not right about our prices. This will be different in the next World Cup in Qatar, where all venues will be in the same place and fans will be able to buy tickets directly when their team qualifies, without waiting for the draw to see where they will end up playing”.