FIBA Strategic Priority 2: Women in Basketball
Since 2019, FIBA placed further importance on increasing female participation in basketball. After significant progress, the XXII FIBA Congress in 2023 extended this priority until 2027, with six specific goals supporting the priority.
Goal 1: Increase Female Players' Participation Her World, Her Rules (link)
The 'Her World, Her Rules' initiative encourages girls aged 6-15 years old to play basketball.
National Federations promote this through various activities, with more than 120,000 girls from more than 150 countries participating between 2019 and 2023.
Renowned female players served as ambassadors, while FIBA's Global Partner TCL showed their support through its Break & Believe campaign in 2022.
FIBA Players' Mentorship Program (link)
Led by the FIBA Players' Commission, the FIBA Players' Mentorship Program aims to reduce dropout levels, especially among young female players. It offers off-court support training to individuals.
FIBA's Women's Basketball Strategy & Planning
National Federations are being supported by FIBA on Women's Basketball Strategy & Planning with useful tools and recommendations.
Goal 2: Develop and Leverage Female Coaches and Officials
National Federations are encouraged to actively promote recruiting and advancing female coaches and officials at all levels.
Coaches - In Europe, a program started in 2021 to mentor elite-level coaches, with placements, training, studying, job shadowing and access to mentors. - National teams participating in FIBA women's youth competitions are required to have at least one female coach. - A World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC) Level 1 Female Instructor Course took place during 2022 in Dubai, with 15 coaches from Asia, Europe, and Oceania. - Female coaches led all three medal winning teams at the flagship FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney.
Game Officials
FIBA's Central Board made it a priority to increase the number of officials, approving the allocation of an extra female referee license to every National Federation for the period 2023-25.
In 2023, the FIBA Referee Maternity Plan was launched to remove potential obstacles for female officials. It provides guidelines for National Federations to ensure full inclusion of female referees in their officiating careers, including during maternity leave.
FIBA organized the first-ever global Women in Officiating Camp during 2023, giving female referees professional development opportunities and formal training.
Goal 3: Maximize the Impact of Women’s Competitions in both disciplines
FIBA is committed to raising the profile of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, Continental Qualifying Competitions and cementing EuroLeague Women as its flagship club competition.
FIBA continues in its plans to establish club competitions across all regions, including in Asia. The Women's Basketball League Americas (WBLA) was recently established in 2023.
- A new competition system is in place for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 in Germany, with an expanded 16 teams and Qualifiers involving 24 nations. Meanwhile Pre-Qualifiers will provide more opportunities for nations and will take place in August 2024.
FIBA is continually enhancing the 3x3 Women's Series, with the total prize money in 2024 exceeding 1.4 million US Dollars. The Women’s Series is set to expand to a 20-stop season in 2024, following a successful campaign in 2023.
GOAL 4: Increase the Number of Fans Consuming Women’s Basketball
Fans are seeing significant changes in how international women's competitions and female players are portrayed and promoted, with FIBA commercial strategies having a stronger focus on women.
- FIBA created Portrayal Guidelines to promote gender equality and inclusive representation in sports worldwide.
FIBA collaborates with companies like Google and TCL to enhance the visibility of women's games. Google became FIBA's first-ever Global Partner of Women's Basketball and the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in 2022.
In preparation for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 programs increased women's involvement behind the scenes, including ‘She Calls Game’ to train female commentators and a FIBA Women's Photography Program.
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 achieved unparalleled success in terms of broadcast, attendance, digital engagement and social media numbers. A record-breaking 145,000 spectators also attended the event.
Goal 5: Increase Gender Diversity in National Federations and FIBA Elected Bodies
There are various initiatives and programs at global and regional levels aimed at increasing gender diversity in all governing bodies within FIBA and National Federations.
During the FIBA Mid-Term Congress in 2021, the Central Board proposed amendments to the FIBA General Statutes to integrate the promotion of women's participation at all levels of basketball governance as a core part of FIBA's mission.
They require both genders to be represented on the Executive Committee, with a minimum of 30 percent representation on every Commission. For the cycle 2023 to 2027, the Central Board appointed 35 percent women across all FIBA Commissions.
Leadership Programs
FIBA supports the development of future female leaders through the WiLEAD and Adelante programs. These focus on management and administration, while also working towards increasing gender diversity and establishing new pathways and support networks across different regions.
Global Women in Leadership Forum
The Global Women in Leadership Forum took place at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022. With keynote speakers and panel discussions, the feedback was hugely positive.
GOAL 6: Increase Gender Diversity across FIBA, including Regional Offices
FIBA will continue to promote the benefits of being a diverse and inclusive organization through a state-of-the-art gender balance strategy.
There will be an emphasis on recruiting women, increasing the percentage of women in FIBA staff leadership roles and creating more opportunities for women to access senior management positions.