ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - The FIBA Europe Board, term of office 2023-27, concluded its fifth meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye on Thursday. The event, which was hosted by the Turkish Basketball Federation, was chaired by FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa, while FIBA President Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak were all in attendance. In a session headlined by the awarding of Belgium and Sweden as FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 co-hosts, the Board also confirmed the hosts for the Youth EuroBaskets for 2025, as well as approving a new Qualifiers competition system for Women's EuroBasket.
FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers competition system
The Board approved a proposal by the Competitions Commission to streamline the Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers competition system, aiming, among other things, to also offer more meaningful games on a regular basis to those nations who do not manage to qualify for the Final Round of the competition. The outline of the new Qualifiers competition system:
Qualifiers will be split in two phases – First Round and Second Round.
European teams participating in the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT) or Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournaments (WWCQT) will be directly qualified to the Second Round.
All windows will be extended by two days to accommodate one more game. (3 games in total per window)
The First Round will be played in two windows:
The November window (3 games) after the previous Women's EuroBasket;
The February window (3 games) will be parallel to the OQTs & WWCQTs.
The Second Round will be played after the OQTs/WWCQTs in two windows (3 games in each) and will feature 24 teams in groups of four, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket.
The new format will add six more meaningful games to those nations who do not manage to qualify for the Final Round of the competition.
FIBA Youth EuroBaskets 2025
The delegates approved the remaining hosts of the 2025 FIBA Youth EuroBaskets, while there have been approvals for early designations for 2026. The hosts for the 2025 events are as follows:
The following early designations for FIBA Youth EuroBasket tournaments were approved for 2026:
FIBA U20 EuroBasket – Ljubljana, SLO
FIBA U18 EuroBasket, Division C – Durres, ALB
FIBA U20 Women's EuroBasket – Vilnius, LTU
FIBA U16 Women's EuroBasket – Pitesti, ROU
The Board heard a report on this summer’s events and approved a new financial contribution structure by both FIBA Europe and participating teams to the future hosts of Youth EuroBaskets.
Club Competitions
The Board was presented with running reports on EuroCup Women, FIBA Europe Cup and Basketball Champions League; it was also informed on recent developments around EuroLeague Women, including the creation of a club council, the introduction of the new competition system, the broadcast agreement with DAZN and the effort to conclude a long term hosting agreement for the Final 6.
FIBA Strategy
In his intervention Mr. Zagklis offered an update on FIBA strategy matters, including the Road to Berlin for the FIBA Women's World Cup in 2026. The FIBA Mid-Term Congress, incorporating the FIBA Hall of Fame, will take place in Manama, Bahrain, May 16-17, 2025.
Development and grassroots
The Board was presented with a report on the Hoops for Schools (H4S), a FIBA Europe program in cooperation with the European Union to to encourage schools from all over the continent to participate in a FIBA-led, multi-dimensional basketball initiatives, as well as with running reports on FIBA Plus program and the eFIBA Finals in Philippines, which will feature Portugal and Türkiye as representatives of Europe.
Other matters
The FIBA Europe Board also approved the budget for 2025 and heard the reports by the various Commission chairs.
The delegates were presented with a report on the Olympic Games 2024 Basketball Tournaments and the overall success of European national teams. There were reviews of 3x3 events, FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers as well as running reports on the Olympic Games Basketball Tournaments, as well as FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 and FIBA EuroBasket 2025 preparations.
The dates for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 and FIBA EuroBasket 2025 draws were approved:
The FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Draw will take place in Piraeus, Greece on March 8, 2025.
The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Draw will take place in Riga, Latvia on March 27, 2025.
The next Board meeting is scheduled to take place in Greece, in March 2025.
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