By Mirto Tsitsiou/ info@eurohoops.net
Volos, Greece – Andreas Zagklis had to be present in the FIBA U18 European Championship in Volos, as you can see in his photo with FIBA Europe executive director Kamil Novak.
However, it was also a special tournament for the new FIBA secretary general, since Volos is his town of origin. Still, there’s nothing bigger in 2019 for FIBA than the upcoming FIBA World Cup and Zagklis talked to Eurohoops about the upcoming event, which will mark the start of a new era for basketball.
The expanded format of the tournament is the first step in order to make the World Cup bigger than ever and this is the big bet of the international basketball federation.
– In a few days, the World Championship in China will begin, which is the most important FIBA event. What should we expect to see?
“The FIBA World Cup is the culmination of five years of work. In the middle of this route, we had the continental championships, with the Eurobasket and Afrobasket leading the charge, which are the most traditional tournaments, but also the Asia Cup and America Cup. We have now reached the end of a journey that began in November 2017 with the qualifiers.
China is a country that has embraced basketball. It’s the biggest country in the world and our own sport is by far the most popular sport in the region. And it’s also a country that for the first time organizes such an event in eight different cities. The project is huge. Our job is to provide the best possible conditions for the athletes. For the first time, we have hired a Head of Players Experience. He is a manager who oversees the details of the teams’ living conditions in order to improve their experience and make it even better. We want to show, after all, that this is the number one event in the basketball world.
The local organizing committee is making a huge effort and we are very pleased. It is a great country that has momentum and all the ingredients needed. It is also the first time that a total of 32 teams will participate in the final tournament, so we have new parameters and new requirements. Our athletes are also more demanding and we want to provide the best possible experience for both our athletes and our fans”.
– What should we expect to see at this year’s World Cup?
“I think that we will have a very competitive World Cup for two reasons. Firstly, because everyone has realized how important this event is and we will see some great athletes at this year’s event. But also because of the new competition system. Results from day one count and can be catalytic for the rest of the tournament. The margin for error is now much smaller for everyone”.
– Do you think the FIBA “windows” have achieved its purpose?
“The “windows” had a very specific purpose; to bring the national teams back to their country, to play in front of a local audience, in games that are not just preparation matches but contests of prime importance. And at the same time to bring out some new stars. Our numbers show that the public in all countries was eager to welcome the teams. We saw it as we had almost 160 sold-out games. That is almost half the games. And we also witnessed some young athletes take their chances. Clearly, in Europe, we had some issues that need to be resolved. We continue to examine them and will continue to try to resolve them after the end of the event”.
– What is your impression of this year’s Eurobasket U18?
“I think we have a very high level of competition and we are very pleased. We see young athletes who are ready to compete at a high level of professional basketball and young athletes who are very close to that level. This is also our role, to prepare them for the next day. This is the philosophy of the U18 men and women tournaments. In terms of organization, I think the Greek basketball federation has also shown in Crete in the FIBA U20 World Championship that it has a lot of experience on that kind of events.
I believe that the support of the Municipality of Volos and the local region is always a key and in this respect, it also helped the event in order to achieve a high organizational level. Our job is not to go only to the capitals of the countries where the federations are located and there are usually facilities ready to be used. These are the cities that claim the Eurobasket for the senior teams.
For junior events, it is part of our strategy to decentralize in order to spread basketball across Europe. It is no coincidence that the men’s Eurobasket will go to Georgia. Nor is it a coincidence that Greece has hosted both the European and World Championships in Volos and in Crete and earlier in Rhodes and in Amaliada”.
– For the first time, we see the logo of the event accompanied by the motto “Her World Her Rules”. How important is it to promote women’s basketball through men’s events?
“This is a motto that emerges through a new project we are running in Europe for women’s basketball. But it’s just the introduction to what we want to do in this area, which will not be headlined as “women’s basketball”, but “women in basketball”. Women not only as athletes, but as coaches, as referees or members of the scorer’s tables, and, of course, as fans. And this can be done through such events, which attract the “non-traditional” audience, the one who will come to see the national team, that is, the whole family. Through this, we want to recognize the value of the mother in society and also the value of the mother until the young children decide on their sport. “Her World Her Rules” is a very successful campaign in this direction, which will continue”.