FIBA shares view on Lorenzo Brown debate, responds to Itoudis rule proposal / News - Basketnews.com

FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis says that FIBA's naturalization process is one of the most difficult in all sports, while it's up to the federations whether to make use of it.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com - Federacion Espanola de Baloncesto - Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Federacion Espanola de Baloncesto - Scanpix

Lorenzo Brown's addition to the Spanish roster just before the preparation for the EuroBasket 2022 once again sparked a discussion about the national teams.

Lorenzo Brown

Team:Maccabi Tel AvivPosition:PG, SGAge:31Height:198 cmWeight:90 kgBirth place:Georgia, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Currently, half of the EuroBasket participants are reinforced with foreigners that had no ties with the country before obtaining their citizenship.

The impact of American players on national teams is also increasing. For instance, the last crowned European champions, Slovenia, were also boosted by the American Anthony Randolph.

During the conversation with the FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis, BasketNews asked the executive if the recent examples, including several last-minute additions before EuroBasket 2022, don't go against the pure idea of national teams basketball and if it goes accordingly to the original idea of the rule.

As a former member of the FIBA Legal Department, which oversaw the legal operations of all FIBA's entities worldwide, Zagklis gave a bigger picture of the naturalization topic in basketball.

"Based on my past role in the organization, you can imagine that I've spent quite some time thinking, arguing, and reviewing hundreds of cases of players," Zagklis smiled before his explanation.

"National team means representing the country. If you ask any federation, the starting point is if you have that country's passport. Then, the role of the international federation is to ensure what you described as the competitive balance, the sporting integrity and making sure that to some extent there are links between the players and the country that they represent," Zagklis continued.

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"The biggest difficulty for FIBA and all federations is that you make a rule, but you have 212 members, and therefore you have 212 different laws of nationality that you need to regulate," the FIBA secretary general pointed out.

"There are some countries where it is extremely difficult to obtain a passport. And there are other countries where it's a much easier process to obtain a passport. Therefore, making a rule that puts a baseline for 212 different nationality rules is extremely difficult.

In some cases, you're national if you've been born in the country. In some cases, you're a national if you have an ancestor one, two, or three generations behind from that country even if you never stepped foot in that country," Zagklis explained.

"The second difficulty which applies in particular to basketball is that we have the country that invented that sport producing if not few thousand, at least one thousand players every year that could make a difference at some levels of national team basketball. Also, because of its culture and the way the society was built, this country had huge immigration rates and big communities from many countries around the world."

"As a third layer, this country has a passport that not only the country of the USA has as a member of FIBA, but a number of other FIBA countries hold US passports. It's an extremely challenging task to bring a balance to all of this," Zagklis said.

FIBA set one of the strictest naturalization rules in sports but will remain flexible with the twelfth roster spot on the team.

Currently, only one naturalized player per national team is allowed.

"The answer of FIBA has always been to be very strict with the eleven players on the roster. I can tell you that our standard rule is one of the strictest around. We receive many complaints about that because the rule is built with a requirement to present a passport before the age of 16 or the real links with the basketball or the society of the country.

And by many countries, it has been seen as a protection mechanism for the bigger countries that have established the traditional development system of players," Zagklis explained.

"The twelfth player is a player who acquires the nationality after the age of 16, and that is where there are cases of players who have links with the country. However, some of those links are discovered very late by the federations or players who express their desire to obtain the country's passport."

"[Speaking of] that twelfth player, indeed, for an average fan, it may look like we have a very flexible rule. It's interesting you mentioned it before the EuroBasket men's tournament. This rule has an even bigger impact on the EuroBasket or WorldCup women we're celebrating the next month. There the usual rotation of the teams is 1 and 1.5 players smaller than for the men."

According to Zagklis, FIBA Central Board has no plans to expand the naturalized players limit.

"The central board has discussed this many times and has concluded that this balance between a strict rule for the eleven and the rule that allows one naturalized player is a correct balance," Zagklis confirmed. "We have no intention of changing this rule."

"I think it's the right of the federations to make good use of that rule. At the end of the day, it's also a debate within every team, federation, and country on how far they want to go in the cases of naturalization and where they put their own criteria on what is the link to the country if they require it," the FIBA executive said.

"If there were a rule that allows anyone who has lived 3-5 years in a row in a given country and has the passport as it happens in other sports, we would see teams that have a very wide base if not the US but for sure foreign players joining them."

"I would like you to understand that these decisions can change the dynamics in the basketball world map overnight and very artificially. This is a discussion I often have in our assemblies of members and boards. If you go to the Caribbean or Oceania, and the rule of eleven players were relaxed, we could have global basketball powerhouses in one night. Or if we would expand the naturalized player quota."

"I think we have a very good balance right now, and the talent out there is so abundant that the naturalized player can make a difference. But at the same time, it's for federations and their coaches to see how they build their strategies around that," Zagklis concluded.

On the eve of the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers window and 2022 FIBA EuroBasket, Greece national team head coach Dimitris Itoudis returned with an idea to expand the rosters for the major competitions to 14 players.

"It's time for national teams to have 14 players. If FIBA wants to keep the rule of teams having 12 players, it's unfair for those who might have an injury to be left with 11 players," a 51-year-old tactician explained.

"We are in a period where there are different viruses, a high level of competitiveness in competitions, and there are injuries and fatigue. FIBA is driven by the evolution of the sport. Back in 2000, we had ten players on the squad. Then, we increased them to 12, and now I think it should be 14. I firmly believe I have a point here," Itoudis added.

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However, Zagklis confirmed that FIBA has no intention of changing that rule.

According to the FIBA executive, the data clearly supports such a decision.

FIBA research shows that between EuroBasket 2001 and 2017, the 12th player has never averaged more than 3 of 4 minutes, and the 11th more than 5 minutes of playing time.

Also, the average number of players used in the competition never really exceeded 11. In the last years, it was closer to 10.

"We don't have any basketball evidence suggesting we should move in that direction. Quite the contrary, I would say. I should not hide from you that we have had private requests from the opposite of perhaps going down to 11 or 10 men rosters given how limited minutes the 11 and 12 players have," Zagklis revealed.

"But we believe that with 12 players, we have a good rule, and we plan to stick to that rule," he confirmed.

"I think we should cherish the beauty of having 10-12 teams that can go for the medal and not necessarily having a bigger pool of players during the tournament rotated in a way that is convenient to one or another thing," Zagklis added.

"A rule that may look natural for the top-level coach that is used to a roster of 16 or 18 and selecting for a given game is 12. But in a given tournament of 2-2.5 weeks, you start with 12, and it's also part of the beauty of the tournament how our tremendously gifted and qualified coaches can manage these rosters."

"This is a rule that is often seen as an administrative rule. But this rule is as close as an administrative rule can be to the rules of basketball. This is a rule that can change the dynamics of the tournament.

A rule that can have a serious impact on the competitiveness of some countries. I would like you also not to forget that what we do on men's basketball has an impact on all the levels of basketball," the FIBA executive reacted.

"So very unfortunately for coach Itoudis, and for all the other coaches, of course, he has to take harsh decisions over the next few days," Zagklis smiled.

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