The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its name but retained the acronym. FIBA defines the

rules of basketball The rules of basketball are the rules and regulations that govern the play, officiating, equipment and procedures of basketball. While many of the basic rules are uniform throughout the world, variations do exist. Most leagues or governing bodie ...

, specifies the equipment and facilities required, organises international competitions, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international

referees A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. A total of 213 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones:

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. FIBA organizes both the men's and women's

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament The FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, formerly known as the FIBA Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament, is the last qualifying tournament for the Olympic Basketball Tournament. The best non-champions from the different FIBA World zones quali ...

and the

Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976. ...

, which are sanctioned by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. The FIBA Basketball World Cup is a world tournament for men's national teams held every four years. Teams compete for the

Naismith Trophy The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...

, named in honor of basketball's American-Canadian creator

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

. The tournament structure is similar but not identical to that of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

; these tournaments occurred in the same year from 1970 through 2014, but starting in 2019, the Basketball World Cup will move to the year following the FIFA World Cup. A parallel event for women's teams, the

FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, also known as the Basketball World Cup for Women or simply the FIBA Women's World Cup, is an international basketball tournament for women's national teams held quadrennially. It was created by the Internat ...

, is also held quadrennially; from 1986 through 2014, it was held in the same year as the men's event but in a different country.

History

1932–49; founding and early years

The association was founded in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in 1932, two years after the sport was officially recognized by the

. Before 1934

was under the umbrella of the

International Amateur Handball Federation The International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body for handball and field handball. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the World Men's Hand ...

. Its original name was . The eight nation's basketball federations that were the founding members of FIBA were: Argentina's Basketball Federation, Czechoslovakia's Basketball Federation, Greece's Basketball Federation, Italy's Basketball Federation, Latvia's Basketball Federation, Portugal's Basketball Federation, Romania's Basketball Federation, and Switzerland's Basketball Federation. During the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, the Federation named

(1861–1939), the founder of basketball, as its Honorary President.

1950–2019; development

FIBA has organized a World Championship, now known as

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, for men since 1950 and a Women's World Championship, now known as the Women's World Cup, since 1953. From 1986 through 2014, both events were held every four years, alternating with the Olympics. As noted above, the men's World Cup was moved to a new four-year cycle, with tournaments in the year before the Summer Olympics, after 2014. The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned to Geneva in 2002. In 1991, it founded the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

; the first induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2007, during

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

. During its 81st anniversary in 2013, FIBA moved into its new headquarters, "The House of Basketball", at Mies.

Andreas Zagklis Andreas Zagklis ( el, Ανδρέας Ζαγκλής; born 1980) is a Greek lawyer and basketball executive, who is the current secretary general of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Early life and education Zagklis received his u ...

became the Secretary-General of FIBA on 7 December 2018.

2020–present; suspensions of Russia and Belarus

In February 2022, Russia and Belarus were suspended from international competitions until further notice due to Russia's

invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...

. It also banned the two countries from hosting any competitions.

Presidents

During the 1936 Summer Olympics the FIBA honored James A. Naismith, the founder of basketball, as their honorary President.

Secretaries General

Tournaments

World champions

World club champions

Continental champions

Continental club champions

3x3 world champions

Awards

Most Valuable Player

FIBA World Rankings

Men's

The following table has the Top 32 men's basketball countries in the world. The Top 32 is here due to the next iteration of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the world's major tournament in men's basketball, anticipating to have 32 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Men's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.

Women's

The following table has the Top 16 women's basketball countries in the world. The Top 16 is here due to the next iteration of the

, the world's major tournament in women's basketball, anticipating to have 16 countries compete. As such, this table shows the projected teams in the next FIBA Women's WC based on the ranking's algorithm. This list does not consider berths given to countries based on hosting or region status.

References

External links

*
InterBasket – International Basketball News, Blog and Forum, covering FIBA, Euroleague, NBA
*
International Basketball News
{{Authority control Sports organizations established in 1932 International sports bodies based in Switzerland International sports organizations 1932 establishments in Switzerland