Andreas Zagklis talks about a meeting with Bodiroga, EuroLeague refs in FIBA competitions / News - Basketnews.com

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis confirmed the meeting with the new EuroLeague president Dejan Bodiroga but admitted that there's no progress in the FIBA-EuroLeague relationship.

Credit: FIBA, EuroLeague Credit FIBA, EuroLeague

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis held a yearly review press conference, where he talked about FIBA's relationship with EuroLeague, EuroBasket success, the upcoming FIBA World Cup, and many other topics.

Zagklis confirmed that he had a meeting with a new EuroLeague president Dejan Bodiroga, but didn't provide plenty of good news for European basketball fans.

"I can confirm that we had a meeting. I don't think it [the meeting] should be news, but there's no progress," Zagklis said in the press conference. "The ambiance is good, and at the same time, we have a feeling that FIBA is very open to discussion."

"In the last 18 months, we feel FIBA tries alone. We included NBA in the discussion and had some brainstorming ideas. We took a decision in September to change the dates in the November window, but the situation in EuroLeague doesn't allow progress.

It's not due to the new leadership. There's a majority and a minority inside ECA. I'm not happy about it. I don't expect anything major for the February window," Zagklis continued.

The Greek executive also said that some important issues don't require much effort, but EuroLeague teams still hesitate to take the necessary steps.

"First of all, I wouldn't personalize these discussions. We need to make progress on an institutional level," Zagklis said. "I've said from the beginning that what we need is an alignment on strategic objectives."

Credit FIBA

"We need to know what elite European clubs want to do and how it is compatible with the rest of hundreds and thousands of European clubs. I'm sure new EuroLeague leadership is trying to understand what these clubs that own ECA want to do. The second step is to see how these plans are compatible with what we want to do.

There's nothing else. The third point and major concern is that solutions require minimal steps for very important issues like the calendar, but the clubs are not willing to take even those easy solutions.

We try not to overload the players, and we've played games on Tuesday many times during the year. There could be 7 double-headers instead of 9, a number of easy fixes. I'm particularly displeased to see that ECA stated they would be ready to change dates because of the football World Cup and not because of the FIBA qualifiers," Zagklis said in a detailed comment.

Continuing on the FIBA-EuroLeague topic, Zagklis also spoke about referees in EuroBasket and the possibility of bringing EuroLeague officials to international competitions.

However, from his answers, it seems that the referees from the best European basketball tournament won't be working in FIBA competitions soon.

"First of all, there were complaints and mistakes made [from the referees during the EuroBasket]," Zagklis began his answer to the BasketNews question. "Certainly, certain lessons were learned, and we have to make sure that some of those errors won't be repeated in the future."

"The number of errors in the group phase was higher than in the playoffs. It's an indication of [lack of] quality. If you don't have enough depth, why don't you bring other referees? Our experts don't see that. We need to have institutional support on guidelines. Rules aren't identical, but the approach during the game is also different.

There's a requirement to be together with referees before they come to the competitions.We have some referees from G-League or the NBA who join the competitions. It's true.

But they are connected to our officiating team and much closer to how FIBA officiating works. I'll put it as a matter of priority to fix it. We want to be inclusive and have the best in our competitions. If there are talents, we'll use them," Zagklis continued.

Asked whether EuroLeague referees are not allowed to keep in touch with FIBA refereeing experts, Zagklis mentioned the lack of unity between FIBA and the EuroLeague.

"I would not use the word 'forbid'," confirmed Zagklis. "However, with G-League referees, we have a collaboration in Africa. That's not the case with EuroLeague, and it won't be as long as we have different structures and approaches. This has to be properly regulated and done."

"We want to have more talent, but we're bringing new talent every time, referees from other continents. This is FIBA trying to protect the work the federations are doing. We believe in referees being developed by federations. This isn't about us being discriminatory or exclusive. It's about institutional collaboration that can't exist at this time," the Greek executive concluded on the topic.

On a more positive note, Zagklis was happy with the European stars' participation in the EuroBasket 2022 and the August window qualifiers. Asked whether he expects the same in the upcoming World Cup, Zagklis remained optimistic.

"We are confident we will build on the success of intercontinental cups," said FIBA Secretary General. "EuroBasket was indeed very successful. All the indications from our discussions with the federations and the NBA are that the expectations are high for players to participate [in the World Cup]. It's an event that we'll make sure, in terms of conditions, very attractive for the players."

"The upcoming World Cup will have new elements for players' experience. For the first time, we'll have a single room policy for all teams. We'll have a reduction in transfers. It will be only one transfer, and it's only for those who'll play in Japan or Indonesia. The 16 teams that will be drawn in Manilla won't be transferred.

There will be no transfer after the First Round. So, the First and Second Rounds will be played in the same place where the teams play in Group Phase. Following the requests of players and coaches, after the transfer, the teams will have an extra day of rest," added Zagklis.

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