TheInternational Basketball Federation (FIBA/ˈfiːbə/FEE-bə;French:Fédération Internationale de Basketball)[a][4] is an association of national organizations which governs the sport ofbasketball worldwide. FIBA defines therules of basketball, specifies theequipment and facilities required, organizes international competitions, regulates the transfer ofathletes across countries, and controls the appointment of internationalreferees. A total of 212 national federations are members, organized since1989 into five zones:Africa,Americas,Asia,Europe, andOceania.
FIBA has organized a world championship, known asWorld Cup, for men since 1950 and a women's world championship, known as theWomen's World Cup, since 1953. From 1986 through 2014, both events were held every four years, alternating with theOlympics.[6] The men's World Cup was moved to a new four-year cycle, with tournaments in the year before the Summer Olympics, after 2014.
On 7 April 1989, at a special congress inMunich following the conclusion of the1988–89 FIBA European Cup, FIBA member nations voted, by a margin of 56 to 13, to allow NBA players to participate in its international events, including the World Cup and the Olympics. The change also intended to ward off competition from theGoodwill Games, which was rivaling the Olympics at the time and also seeking to bring NBA players into its basketball events.[7][8][9]
The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned toGeneva in 2002. In 1991, it founded theFIBA Hall of Fame; the first induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2007, duringEuroBasket 2007. During its 81st anniversary in 2013, FIBA moved into its new headquarters, "The House of Basketball", atMies.[10]Andreas Zagklis became the Secretary-General of FIBA on 7 December 2018.
In February 2022, Russia and Belarus were provisionally suspended from international competitions until further notice due to Russia'sinvasion of Ukraine.[11][12] It also suspended the two countries from hosting any competitions.[12]
FIBA divides the world into 5 zones, each roughly based on a continent.
There are five zones, in which FIBA oversees the game in the different continents and regions of the world through its regional offices under its new governance structure, which was approved by the 2014 FIBA Extraordinary Congress inIstanbul.[15] National federations are members of FIBA and are provided for in FIBA's General Statutes with their assigned zones.[16] The Statutes also state that upon a national federation's admission into FIBA, it is assigned to a zone by the Central Board.[17]
FIBA recognizes 212 national federations; see thelist of men's national basketball teams and thelist of women's national basketball teams. Unlike other sports organizations, FIBA recognizes theBritish Basketball Federation as the lone governing body for basketball in Great Britain, as a result of a merger in 2016 between the basketball federations of two of the fourHome Nations within the United Kingdom (England and Scotland).[18] Wales had rejected the proposed merger in 2012 but agreed in 2015. Several members of FIBA Oceania, notably Australia and New Zealand, also compete in Asian tournaments.
In 2021, Peru was disaffiliated from FIBA[19] after being suspended in 2018.[20]
TheFIBA Men's World Ranking andFIBA Women's World Ranking are both updated after a FIBA competition or qualification window and are based on their performance, particularly in games, in those events. The men's ranking was updated on 10 September 2023 after the2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, while the latest women's ranking was updated on 21 August 2023 after the FIBA Women's Continental Cups, which took place in all FIBA zones.
FIBA's headquarters is located inMies, Switzerland and is known as the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball, named after the organization's former Secretary-General.
FIBA's supreme body is the FIBA Congress, an assembly of representatives from each affiliated national federation, with each having one vote. The Congress assembles every two years, either an elective or mid-term congress, and is the only body that can make modifications to FIBA's General Statutes. An elective congress elects the FIBA President, Treasurer, and members of theFIBA Central Board, and appoints members of their Ethics and Nominations Panels.[21] Two extraordinary congresses have been held since 1989, with the most recent held in 2014.
The FIBA Central Board is the organization's highest executive body. It comprises 29 people: the president; the secretary-general; the treasurer; 13 members elected by the FIBA Congress; the 5 presidents of each FIBA zone; up to six co-opted members; a representative each from theNational Basketball Association and the players. The Board is the body that decides which countries will host theFIBA Basketball World Cup and theFIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The Central Board for the term 2023-2027 comprises 27 members.
The president and the secretary general are the main office holders of FIBA and are in charge of its daily administration. Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani was elected president on 23 August 2023 at the FIBA Congress.Andreas Zagklis was appointed secretary-general on 8 December 2018 following the death ofPatrick Baumann.[22]
^B: FIBA Oceania no longer conducts senior-level championships for either sex. Since 2017, that region's members have competed for FIBA Asia senior championships. FIBA Oceania continues to hold age-grade championships.
The following table has the Top 32 men's basketball countries in the world.[23] The Top 32 is here due to the next iteration of theFIBA Basketball World Cup, the world's major tournament in men's basketball, anticipating to have 32 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Men's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.[24]
The following table has the Top 16 women's basketball countries in the world.[26] The Top 16 is here due to the next iteration of theFIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the world's major tournament in women's basketball, anticipating to have 16 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Women's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.[27]
^Originally known as theFédération internationale de basketball amateur (hence FIBA), in1989 it dropped the wordamateur from its name but retained the acronym.
