FIBA's Executive Committee convened by video conference on 12th February, Friday for their first meeting of 2021. The meeting came on the eve of the FIBA Continental Cups Qualifiers' final window, set to take place across FIBA's five regions from February 17-23, with Group games being played in protected bubble formats.
The meeting's main highlight was the announcement that the Latvian Basketball Association will host the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021. The event will take place from July 3-11, 2021, in the Latvian cities of Riga and Daugavpils.
Below are the main takeaways from the meeting.
Status reports were presented on preparations for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments tipping off June 29 in Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia, and the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. An update was also provided on the status of the organization of the FIBA Continental Cups in 2021 and 2022, along with the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 and FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
Due to the success of the first edition of the FIBA U17 Skills Challenges 2020, FIBA's Central Board has decided to continue the Skills Challenge project and introduce a national team competition to the generation of U15 players. The Executive Committee confirmed the format for the FIBA U15 Skills Challenges 2021, which will consist of 32 participating teams per gender. Qualification will be open to all 213 National Federation members through Continental Qualifiers and all five FIBA regions will be represented in these global events.
Updates were presented to the Executive Committee on the Basketball Champions League (BCL) and the Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA), with both leagues currently in progress. A report was also given on the recently played FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2021 Final, which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 6, 2021. The reigning BCL champions Hereda San Pablo Burgos (ESP) faced the BCLA winners Asociacion Atletica Quimsa (ARG), with the Spanish club Hereda San Pablo Burgos being crowned champions.
With the successful completion of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December, the Executive Committee received a report on the 2020 3x3 season. Additionally, the Executive Committee has confirmed that Austria and Hungary will be hosts of the upcoming FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament and FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Austria will take place from May 26-30, 2021, and the FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hungary from June 4-6, 2021.
The Executive Committee has confirmed that the FIBA Mid Term Congress will take place on June 3, 2021. The Executive Committee also confirmed that this year the congress will take place virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
