History
Sport of basketball has increased in popularity among elite deaf athletes around the world. Several international and national basketball competitions have already been held for several years under an international organisation of sports for the deaf called the Deaflympics. This international deaf sports organisation has had a long and rich history in Deaf sports since establishment in 1924 - being the oldest of the international organisations on disability sports for disabled people.
On 2 May 1988, a group of highly respected deaf sports athletes involved in basketball came together in Turku, Finland. They recommended the need for a world governing body for international deaf basketball, so it can focus entirely on the deaf basketball game and to improve its standards. The first provisional Central Board was formed, consisted of President - Jussi Raiso (Finland), Vice-President - Aleksas Jasiunas (Lithuania), Secretary - Christian Boklund (Sweden), Board Member - Riina Kuusk (Estonia) and Board Adviser - Kjell Gunnå (Sweden).
From this special meeting, "International Deaf Basketball Association" (IDBA) was founded and the first IDBA Constitution with Statutes and Regulations were approved. The IDBA started informing other deaf people of its inception and invited organisations interested in deaf basketball around the world to join.
On 27 July 2001, during Summer Deaflympics in Rome, Italy, a first meeting was convened officially establishing IDBA as an organisation. Although the necessary two-third attendance from countries from all over the world playing deaf basketball was not achieved in Rome, still it was decided that the provisional Central Board would continue its work. Elected President was Jussi Raisio (Finland), Secretary - Christian Boklund (Sweden), Treasurer - Rick Balk (USA), Member-at-large - Lyndon Borrow (Australia) and Yaakov Keren (Israel), and Board Advisor - Kjell Gunnå (Sweden).
A year later, during the 2002 1st World Deaf Basketball Championships in Athens, Greece, IDBA held a founding meeting with two-third majority votes achieved of officials from countries practicing deaf basketball countries thus it was officially founded. The name IDBA was also changed to Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF) for more corporate visibility and comprehensiveness.
The first official DIBF Central Board was composed of President - Jussi Raisio (Finland), Vice-President - Lyndon Borrow (Australia), Secretary General - Kjell Gunna (Sweden), Treasurer - Rick Balk (USA), Member-at-large - Ioannis Stoufis (Greece). Later, two additional female members were added - Yue-Tong Zhu (China) and Iryna Chepchyna (Ukraine). The Central Board was elected with term to next World Deaf Basketball Championships in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Deaf International Basketball Federation
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