Eurobasket 2017

[Efesdxb]

National teams who didn't qualified through eurobasket shouldn't get the organization of Olympic qualifying tournaments or any wild card for those same tournaments , Fiba is so corrupted ,its unbeliveable, Fifa is nothing compared to them.

%100 agree.
I wouldn't be surprised if we are given to host one of those 3 qualification tournaments. We didn't deserve, we shouldn't host it.

[Picek]

For the sake of my home budget I can only hope Serbia, Makedonija and Bulgaria will win with their bid.
Except of our result which was a disaster, 86 € for the eight final game with seats behind the basket?
Give me a break.
Last year for world championship it was cheaper in Madrid.
For the final game in Slovenia with better seats i think it was 150 € or something like that.
Beer (non alcoholic) inside Lille stadium, 6€.
And on top of it all in Lille except of the fan zone there wasn't a single panel advertising the championship.
Worse then in Zagreb.

[MZT Skopje]

I have visited 6 sport festivals. Handball Croatia 2009, Handball Serbia 2012, Basketball Slovenia 2012, Basketball Spain 2007 (Macedonia : Israel in Menorca), Handball and Basketball olimpics 2012 and is embarrassing to say that Handball every time had the better organization and I expect no less in Lille 2017 when handball WC will take place in the same stadium in Lille.

[CoachZ]

Not to offend any French guys here, but whatever event I went to in France for different events and festivals I had similar experiences. They tend to overcharge, seem genuinely uninterested in making anyone feel welcome or wanted there. Me and my bro flew to Madrid last year, that seems miles away from this and even that was a an OK experience, nothing out of this world. I don't think it has anything to do with them not being basketball "fanatics" like some other countries, more of a mentality thing.

[ThePeraCar]

wtf guys ur going to france it is expensive what did u expect

[Picek]

wtf guys ur going to france it is expensive what did u expect

I go to France every year (business trips) and in Paris you can drink a cheaper beer under or with the look on the Eiffel tower.
This was Lille, not Paris.

[ThePeraCar]

I go to France every year (business trips) and in Paris you can drink a cheaper beer under or with the look on the Eiffel tower.
This was Lille, not Paris.

its same everywhere come to Belgrade when Red Star plays EL beer inside arena is 2e(one plastic glass 0,3-0,4) beer outside is 0,6e(0,5) and police wont let you buy it outside...lol

[Modis]

I would like FIBA to keep hosting EC around the West of Europe. I hope UK hosts the next one. I have family here, it would be so easy visiting the games.. Try to spread Basketball to UK. They have potential to be good at basketball but they are just no bothered .

[CoachZ]

I would like FIBA to keep hosting EC around the West of Europe. I hope UK hosts the next one. I have family here, it would be so easy visiting the games.. Try to spread Basketball to UK. They have potential to be good at basketball but they are just no bothered .

LOL. Where have you been lately regarding basketball. How was the Euroleague F4 done in UK, not even gonna mention the Olympic BBall tournament.

[MZT Skopje]

Not to offend any French guys here, but whatever event I went to in France for different events and festivals I had similar experiences. They tend to overcharge, seem genuinely uninterested in making anyone feel welcome or wanted there. Me and my bro flew to Madrid last year, that seems miles away from this and even that was a an OK experience, nothing out of this world. I don't think it has anything to do with them not being basketball "fanatics" like some other countries, more of a mentality thing.

I have visted Paris onece not long ago, cheep flights with Wizz Air. Dude, they simply refuse to speak english, they say only frensh every shop or reesturant, meny only in frensh. Will never visit again. Nice city and everything but something wrong with the poeple.

[slice me nice]

I have visted Paris onece not long ago, cheep flights with Wizz Air. Dude, they simply refuse to speak english, they say only frensh every shop or reesturant, meny only in frensh. Will never visit again. Nice city and everything but something wrong with the poeple.

Paris is the worst city after Madrid according to my experiences but none of the place can come closer to Madrid in this race. So much bad memories there Btw, I also visited Skopje, such a pretty city. I never expected to be impressed by that city so much

[MZT Skopje]

I have been onece in Istanbul and twice in Antalya (Hollyday). People in Instanbul very kind, and Antalya become my favourite hollyday place will visit again next year. Turkish company TAV did build our new airport in Skopje and they have cheep flights to Istanbul, Antalya, etc. They have also a program so Turskish turist will visit Macedonia much more. BTW TAV is also interested to put in some cash into MZT budget. Halkbank took over our federation.

Poeple in Antaly realy knows how to speak with a guest. Owner of that coffee bar ask me from what nation I come ? Macedonia, oooooo Macedonia welcome my mate. Bu this things means a lot. No one in Paris did speak like that. They have no idea how to treat a guest. Also at the resturant table in Antalya come and play live music for free.

[slice me nice]

I have been onece in Istanbul and twice in Antalya (Hollyday). People in Instanbul very kind, and Antalya become my favourite hollyday place will visit again next year. Turkish company TAV did build our new airport in Skopje and they have cheep flights to Istanbul, Antalya, etc. They have also a program so Turskish turist will visit Macedonia much more. BTW TAV is also interested to put in some cash into MZT budget. Halkbank took over our federation.

Poeple in Antaly realy knows how to speak with a guest. Owner of that coffee bar ask me from what nation I come ? Macedonia, oooooo Macedonia welcome my mate. Bu this things means a lot. No one in Paris did speak like that. They have no idea how to treat a guest. Also at the resturant table in Antalya come and play live music for free.

I am glad you liked your experiences in Turkey Actually I am surprised that Halkbank funds the Macedonian league and federation. I am well informed about TAV and its investments. To develop a better tourism network, this kind of investment makes sense. I would like to see more Macedonians here since we have deep historical roots with Macedonia

[ZizzitSlo]

As JPF said, the most important piece of information is this:

Attendance has reached a new high with 560,000 spectators taking in the Group Phase and Round of 16 games. This compares very favourably compared to the total tournament attendance numbers of 2013 (328,000) and 2011 (357,000).

This is all that Fiba ever cared about, and Fiba Europe as well - the only exception being when deceased Olaf Rafnsson was in charge, he truly cared more about reviving basketball in some countries. Some guy previously mentioned how "their tournament was the best ever", forget about that. It's useless piece of information. I've worked at 3 different Fiba Europe championships and they always say that. It was the same in Lithuania 2011, Slovenia U20 2012 and Slovenia 2013. The quality of organization means nothing as it is a pre-made format, an instant soup that has to be executed by Local organizing comittee, the only requirement being them having IQ higher than the heighth of the rim in Korean league.

Influent board members and lobbies decide where the championships will be regarding the maximum possible income, and only the fact that WC brings more sponsor money (through FIBA World) allowed some poorer federations like Lithuania and Slovenia to host Eurobasket in previous years. Remember where the last two World championships were held and think about that for a moment. Japan 2006 was also a case of heavy bidding and "friendly money" that dropped in the pockets of some functionaries. Precisely because of that reason Fiba Europe and Fiba World grew apart at this period, because some basketball-wise strong federations in Europe (I know for sure for Serbia, Lithuania, Slovenia, but many others too) were losing the game off-court, and I'm not talking only about the decisions for venues, but also implentation of rules for young players, foreign player quotas, referees, TV rights and so on. Their answer was to unite and create a system of competitions that would allow them to grow and develop.

Fiba Europe succeded to withheld it's strong position for a couple of years due to the fact that Eurobasket was actually a very attractive format that grew marketing-wise much faster than WC and that's what got some people at Fiba World scared (because of the declining sponsor interest - in other words Eurobasket shined so bright it made WC look bad). Therefore, changes were demanded and the first one was to change the power structures at the top of Fiba Europe. The decisive moment happened in Ljubljana 2012, at annual Fiba Europe Board Meeting, when they sacked Nar Zanulin, which was a key figure in fight against FE succumbing to FW. Especially Greeks (more precisely magnat Vassilakopoulos) lobbied heavily for this, since they have strong position in Fiba World and can get a heavy share of sponsorship money coming in from the world competitions. Remember, not necessarily for the Greek federation, but in their own pocket (similar to FIFA case). Vote against Zanulin was not just vote against him, but also against Rafnsson, head of Fiba Europe, and this has shaken the current power structure heavily. Basically, they were both stabbed in the back by members of many European federations, although the vote was quite tight, Zanulin had to go. Rafnsson's reign finally fell in 2013, when he had a heart attack in his hotel room in Geneve, during a Fiba World convention, just prior to the competition in Slovenia. All respect to his work that took the popularization of basketball to a truly golden era, which is shown by results of teams like Latvia, Czech Republic, Finland, which didn't happen by mere incident. One of his other legacies is the introduction of organized 3x3 tournaments and his struggle to make it an Olympic discipline.

The next important step for Fiba World was to reduce the number of years Eurobasket is played and also limit it's importance by not being a qualifying tournament for WC. Last final step will be to take away the ability to qualify for the Olympics. In a couple of years Eurobasket will be completely degraded and will serve as a tournament where strong (money and basketball-wise) countries will either send only their youngsters and lesser known players or send very strong teams that no one will be able to beat, while other nations will struggle to compete, as they will have even bigger problems with motivating their biggest star players to come and play, since Eurobasket will be a trivial competition. Main difference is the rich can afford insurance for their players and poor can't. The divide between strong and weak will be greater than ever, because, remember - it's not only about the competitions and the venues - it's about how sponsorship money is divided, about whom favor the rules and about the whole sphere of work of basketball organizations. For example, Slovenian federation prospered in last years precisely because Fiba Europe policy was to help and allow the popularization of basketball in countries that just don't have the budget to compete with the bigs. It allowed Slovenia to organize 3 different competitions (different age & gender categories) and to popularize basketball, get the money from merchandise and so on. If you don't have that support, it is impossible to work.

This divide between strong and weaker federations is created by the greed of some individuals to have total control over the rules, over the way the basketball is played and with a clear goal in mind to create a secluded circle of competitions which target big markets and maximize the profit. Basketball tradition plays absolutely no role here. The play off-court will become much, much dirtier than we are used to in the last 10 years, first step being introduction of insanely high fees to organize a qualifying tournament.

I know this was a lengthy and off-topic introduction, but it was needed to make the final point on topic: The choosing of this venues will show what tactic will FW-friendly structures in Fiba Europe take in the next years, as we are now at yet another decisive point. Two options: a) they don't really care where Eurobasket is held as they realize that it will soon become a lesser competition (this gives more chances to Balkan countries as it would settle them for a couple of years after 2017); b) they will favor the markets with most sponsorship money (or attendance) - this way one group in the UK wouldn't be a surprise, as sponsorship potential there is immense.

In this spectre, I can understand Lithuania's reluctance to co-host the next tournament, as they will probably spare their money, strength and bid for some other time when it will really matter. OQT might be a good choice, but not necesarilly the best, as even more important qualifying tournaments might come in the future. As far as I saw, Lithuanian federation is playing a very smart game, and Serbia as well (decision to introduce Bodiroga to federation at the correct time), while Slovenia is struggling as it favored the previous Board leadership heavily and is now paying the price. We will have to work hard to get close to the Fiba Board again in order to at least be in-the-know with the planned changes.

[MZT Skopje]

I am glad you liked your experiences in Turkey Actually I am surprised that Halkbank funds the Macedonian league and federation. I am well informed about TAV and its investments. To develop a better tourism network, this kind of investment makes sense. I would like to see more Macedonians here since we have deep historical roots with Macedonia

I am sure we will get this EC. You now who is Fiba president, good relationship with Petar Naumoski.

Also HalkBank will put in a word for us.

-)