Mujuru appointed to Fiba role

BASKETBALL Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) president Joe Mujuru has been appointed the international mother body Fiba Zone VI vice president following a congress held in Maputo Mozambique last weekend.

Mujuru, stood for the presidential election for Zone VI alongside Paulo Madeira da Silva.

They tied at five votes each.

Following consultations and advice from the FIBA Africa president and executive director, Madeira was appointed Zone VI and Mujuru his deputy.

The appointment of the rest of the Zone VI board is yet to be completed.

“This is a plus for us as a nation. It is quite an honor for me to raise the country’s flag high by holding this post.

“Hopefully, the knowledge gained will also be vital in the running of basketball in the country,” said Mujuru.

The 18th FIBA Africa General Assembly came to a close on Saturday in Maputo with Anibal Manave re-elected as FIBA Africa President.

Among the senior officials attending the General Assembly were FIBA President, Hamane Niang, FIBA Secretary-General, Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave, FIBA Africa Executive Director Alphonse Bile, Basketball Africa League (BAL), President, Amadou Gallo Fall, NBA Africa CEO, Victor Williams, FIBA First Vice-President Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani and FIBA Treasurer Ingo Weiss.

The two-day session set a number of goals for the next four-year term (2023-2027).

Besides Manave’s re-election the event discussed and recommended new measures to improve national federations’ activities.

It also looked at ways to strengthen women’s and 3×3 basketball on the continent and looked at avenues to make African basketball a force to be reckoned with globally.

In his post-election speech, Manave welcomed the trust he received from FIBA officials: “It is a privilege and honour to be re-elected. We have many challenges and opportunities, and I believe that the work with the National Federations and with the board will continue to develop basketball in our region. We had positive results, which we achieved in difficult conditions, and we still have the challenges we had in the past term.”

During the two-day event, FIBA Africa held the draws for its next major continental competitions: the 2023 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket to be held in Rwanda (28 July to August 6) and the 2023 FIBA Africa to take place in Angola from July 8-16.

— @innocentskizoe