FIBA Secretary General: “China Opens New Commercial Opportunities”

It’s a big moment for global basketball. The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, starting in two months, will be held for the first time in China, where the sport is already hugely popular. Andreas Zagklis, Secretary General of FIBA (the International Basketball Federation), speaks to iSportconnect TV about the flagship event, the Olympics next year and more in this wide-ranging interview.

With a record 32 participating teams, the 18^th edition of the Basketball World Cup will be played from 31 August-15 September in eight cities: Beijing, Foshan, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Shanghai (which will host the final) and Guangzhou.

For the first time, the FIBA Basketball World Cup will qualify seven teams directly for the following year’s Olympic Games.

FIBA is an anomaly among the IFs in that the Secretary General (rather than the President) is effectively the top person in the organisation.