GENEVA - Today (June 18) marks the 78th anniversary of FIBA's foundation. When a group of visionary men under the leadership of FIBA's first President Léon Bouffard from Switzerland and first FIBA Secretary General Renato William Jones from Great Britain met on 18 June
1932 at a hotel in Geneva, basketball was still under the auspices of the International Handball Federation. It was only after that meeting and with the support of the founding members from Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland that FIBA took over the responsibility for the promotion and organisation of basketball on a global level.
Only four years later, basketball became an Olympic Sport at the 1936
Games in Berlin. In 1950, FIBA organized the first World Championship
for Men and in 1953 the women's edition of this most important
basketball event followed.
The rest is a success story that made basketball the most popular indoor
sport with over 450 million people regularly practicing the sport on
all levels. The FIBA family that started with eight national federations
now grew to 213 member federations from all continents.
FIBA President Bob Elphinston looks ahead to a brilliant future: "The
health status of our sport is as good as ever. We look forward to two
exciting World Championships this summer in Turkey and the Czech
Republic with the world's greatest talent.
"I would like to thank our membership that has worked so hard for the
past 78 years to make basketball the global sport that it is today."
(With information from FIBA.com)
1932 at a hotel in Geneva, basketball was still under the auspices of the International Handball Federation. It was only after that meeting and with the support of the founding members from Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland that FIBA took over the responsibility for the promotion and organisation of basketball on a global level.
Only four years later, basketball became an Olympic Sport at the 1936
Games in Berlin. In 1950, FIBA organized the first World Championship
for Men and in 1953 the women's edition of this most important
basketball event followed.
The rest is a success story that made basketball the most popular indoor
sport with over 450 million people regularly practicing the sport on
all levels. The FIBA family that started with eight national federations
now grew to 213 member federations from all continents.
FIBA President Bob Elphinston looks ahead to a brilliant future: "The
health status of our sport is as good as ever. We look forward to two
exciting World Championships this summer in Turkey and the Czech
Republic with the world's greatest talent.
"I would like to thank our membership that has worked so hard for the
past 78 years to make basketball the global sport that it is today."
(With information from FIBA.com)