The IOC abandoned it without regret, but FIBA continues to respect a rule long sacred in the Olympic movement: the alternation of continents. Coupled with the principle of a single mandate, it benefited a leader from the Middle East on Wednesday August 23.
Qatari Saud Ali Al Thani (photo above) was unanimously elected at the Manila Congress as president of the International Basketball Federation. He was the only candidate for the highest office. Saud Ali Al Thani succeeds the Malian Hamane Niang, who completed his four-year mandate after replacing in 2019 a representative from another continent, the Argentinian Horacio Muratore.
Since the end of the 90s, FIBA has established the rule of a single mandate and geographical alternation for the presidential position. But the position had never before been occupied by a leader from the Middle East since the creation of the body in 1932.
The election of Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani, Wednesday August 23 in Manila, two days before the opening of the Men's World Cup in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, looks like a first. But it's not a surprise. The Qatari had been waiting for four years in the waiting room, on the seat of vice-president of FIBA. His other service includes serving as president of FIBA Asia since 2002. Earlier in his career, he chaired the Qatar Basketball Federation and served as vice-president of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
Called to the podium to deliver his first impressions as the new strong man of world basketball, Saud Ali Al Thani gave a willingly unifying speech: “ It is a great honor to take on this responsibility: for me, for my country – Qatar – and for our continent – Asia. I now represent the interests of the 212 national federations from five continents. Basketball is a global sport, it is our main strength. »
Coincidentally with the calendar, Saud Ali Al Thani will end his presidential term in 2027, the year when the men's basketball World Cup will be held for the first time in his own country, Qatar.
With this takeover, the Olympic movement is leaning a little further east. It is turning an additional notch towards Asia and the Middle East. In recent years, the region has landed a solid handful of international federations, some of them long led by European officials.
In June 2022, South Korean Kim Jae-youl won the presidency of the International Skating Union (ISU). Two weeks later, the world weightlifting body (IWF) entrusted the keys to the president's office to Iraqi Mohamed Jalood. Kuwaiti Husain Al-Musallam has chaired World Aquatics since 2021. Last October, Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, fifth son of the Emir of Qatar, was elected without competition first vice-president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (NOC).
In Manila, Wednesday August 23, the FIBA Congress not only greeted Malian Hamane Niang with a goodbye and opened the door to his Qatari successor. The delegates also renewed their governance.
No change for the position of treasurer: the German Ingo Weiss returns for a third term. The central office, on the other hand, offers something new. Among its thirteen elected members (excluding president and treasurer), five women: the American Carol Callan, the Japanese Yuko Mitsuya, the Romanian Carmen Tocala, the leader of Palau Jubilee Kuartei, and the Rwandan Pascale Mugwaneza. Parity is underway.
Another notable entry: Yao Ming. The former center of the Chinese team and the Houston Rockets, now 42 years old, enters the central office. With his 2,29 m, he will raise the average height.
For the rest, the central office will be composed, in addition to the president and the treasurer, of the secretary general, the Greek Andreas Zagklis, and the presidents of the five confederations of FIBA: the Mozambican Anibal Manave for Africa, the Argentinian Fabian Borro for the Americas, the Indian K. Govindraj for Asia, the Spaniard Jorge Garbajosa for Europe, and the Australian David Reid for Oceania.
The last two members, an NBA representative and a player representative, will soon be chosen by the central office.
