Vusumuzi Dube
Innocent Kurira Sports Reporter
BASKETBALL Union of Zimbabwe (Buz) president Joe Mujuru says one of the major take aways from his trip to the International Federation of Basketball Associations (FIBA) congress in Manilla Philippines was the need to increase female participation in the sport.
The Philippines’ co-hosting of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 is not just about the competition on the hard court. Before the start of the games, delegates from all over the world, representing their national federations, joined the FIBA Congress Manila 2023 which was on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. During this two-day event at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila (Sofitel Manila), the future of basketball as a global sport was mapped out by its movers and shakers.
“The congress was an eye-opener and was a testimony of us being at the table of where basketball decisions are made globally. A lot of issues were discussed at the congress. Issues of increasing female participation in the sport were discussed. “Very soon the Basketball Africa League (BAL) women’s league will be introduced. As Zimbabwe, we have a lot of talented female basketball players and this is an opportunity we should exploit. Expanding three on three basketball competitions was also topical,” said Mujuru.
“I think as Zimbabwe we gained a lot from the conversations that happened in the two days of the congress. I have no doubt after these conversations we will be in a better place with women’s programmes and youth participation.
“We are hopeful of creating a more vibrant national league and national team. We also have to embrace the latest marketing trends like social media marketing. These are some of the things we have to take seriously. This was great and a lot came out of it,” he added.
Zimbabwe is not part of the basketball World Cup. For Zimbabwe to qualify for the World Cup they needed to have qualified for the Afrobasket finals but they also did not make it for that.
The FIBA World Cup is a basketball competition that was founded by Fiba.
This event was initially known as the FIBA World Championship from inauguration in 1950 until 2010. After that it was renamed the FIBA World Cup. The first FIBA World Cup was held in Argentina in 1950. This country was chosen as the venue because it was the only country prepared to host it. Argentina won all of the games and became the first FIBA World champion. After this tournament, the next five events were held in South America.
During the time, the basketball teams from Latin America dominated and won eight of the nine medals in the first three tournaments.-@innocentskizoe
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