History
The association was founded in Geneva in 1932, two years after the sport was officially recognized by the IOC. Its original name was Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur. Eight nations were founding members: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. During the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, the Federation named James Naismith (1861–1939), the founder of basketball, as its Honorary President.
FIBA has organized a World Championship, now known as World Cup, for men since 1950 and a World Championship for Women since 1953. Through 2014, both events are now held every four years, alternating with the Olympics. As noted above, the World Cup will be moved to a new four-year cycle, with tournaments in the year before the Summer Olympics, after 2014.
In 1989, FIBA opened the door to Olympic participation by professionals such as players from the NBA in the United States. At this point, the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur became the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, but retained FIBA as an abbreviation.
The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned to Geneva in 2002. Patrick Baumann is the Secretary General of FIBA.
In 1991 it founded FIBA Hall of Fame, the first induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2007 during EuroBasket 2007.
Read more about this topic: International Basketball Federation
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