Strong contingent of former players pass FIBA Agents Test in Mies

MIES (Switzerland) - A group of 27 applicants completed their journey of becoming newly qualified FIBA-Licensed Agents.

Attending the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball on Wednesday, the first tranche of 2023 was also made up of 19 different nationalities. 

Becoming a FIBA Agent remains a key role, and the program is linked to one of FIBA's strategic priorities, to 'Enlarge the FIBA Family'. 

Ten former players including five former national team ballers were among the participants. One of the newly qualified agents was Tariq Kirksay who explained his background and motivations for the career change.

He said: "I am from the Bronx in New York born and raised. I played for the French national team with Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and those guys. I was also with Tenerife and won the original Basketball Champions League."

"Knowing the aspect from being a player and being in the middle of deals and knowing it from the other side, guys always came to me for mentoring to try and bring the over to Europe - or even asking about things within Europe."

"I am always helping people and everybody was asking 'why don't you make a business out of it?'  So here I am today, but I really want to do it for the players more than just the business. I really want to help and guide the players."

Meanwhile Vlad Moldoveanu, a former national team player with Romania stated: "I grew up in the basketball world with my mum playing, then I left for the US when I was younger and studied there for 7 years. I came back and played professional basketball in Europe for the last 12 years which has had a great impact on my life now."

"When players in the past asked me for help or advice I realized that I have a lot to give and I consider an agent a very important part of a players' career. Not just in finding teams, but mentoring them when having to adjust from country to country and what it means to be able to play at every level of FIBA games."

Jonathan Tabu-Eboma enjoyed a career spanning two decades and wore the national team jersey of Belgium. was also happy with his change of direction.

He commented: "I played for 20 years as a professional, starting off in Belgium and I also played in France, Italy, Spain and Germany - but now I am newly retired, even if it is not official yet."

"It's because I have been a player and I have been on the other side. My approach of doing this job is that I want to be focused on the player. I know a lot of people say this, but actually they don't really do this."

"My thing is to not to only to help the player to find a job, but to also guide him throughout his career from the start to the finish."

There was also female representation from Lande Pratt who explained: "For my part, I played college basketball a very long time ago for the University of Oxford. We won a national college basketball title under the tutelage of a great coach from the U.S. I learned a tremendous amount and was inspired by an Olympian we were privileged to have on the team. In those days, there were not huge opportunities for women playing pro-basketball though, so college basketball was a great option."

" Why did I go into becoming an agent? I am a lawyer by training and having been called to the Bar, I understand how legal matters to clients. It’s great to see also a growth and emergence of women agents in Europe and also internationally". I would love to see those involved in basketball as a sport, know how they might leverage their skills as athletes when they move on to managing all manner of opportunities beyond their playing careers."
continued Pratt.

Agents who have taken the FIBA Test go on to take a leading role in providing career and transfer guidance while also safeguarding players' image rights and much more.

For more information about FIBA Agents, click here. 

FIBA