Andreas Zagklis confirms that number of teams in Olympics won't change / News - Basketnews.com

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis referred to the federation's attempts to increase the number of participating teams in the Olympics and explained why no change is to be expected before 2028.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

As only 12 teams are currently represented in the Olympic Games basketball tournament, one of FIBA's long-time requests to the International Olympic Committee has been to have that number increased.

However, for the time being, and with the view to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, no change should be expected in that matter. In his customary end-of-year video Conference he had with members of the press, FIBA Secretary General, Andreas Zagklis said FIBA has tried "quite a few times in the past" that the 12 teams become 16.

"Historically, we were more than 12, but we went down in order to have women in, in Montreal 1976," he explained. "You probably remember that we started the World Cup for men in 1950 and women in 1953," Zagklis continued.

"But in the Olympics, the gap is not three years, it's 40 years, Berlin, 36 men, Montreal 76. That's when Borislav Stankovic took over, and the agreement came that we reduced the men to have the women in, which was fundamental and one of the reasons why our women signed did not run as fast as the men's side," the Greek sports administrator added.

Zagklis pointed out that the Olympics include the sports that are proposed by the Olympic organizing committee.

In that respect, introducing the 3x3 tournament as a new Olympic sport has been a success for FIBA, despite the obvious limitations in the number of participating teams. 3x3 was formally added to the Olympic program for the Games in Tokyo that were held in 2021.

"It has been the tremendous success of my predecessor to have 3x3 basketball in the Olympics," Zagklis mentioned.

"But with eight teams, we don't have universality. We cannot have all the continents represented, which is important for us. And therefore, we have, of course, raised the topic of increasing the number of teams. This is not a compromise for us. This is a priority."

Zagklis pointed out that the recent announcements for Los Angeles are that the number of quotas would not increase for any sport.

"So we should not expect the 12 to become more in the near future, I would say, in Los Angeles or Brisbane," he noted.

That could mean that basketball stars like Luka Doncic or Giannis Antetokounmpo, who might face off in the Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus next July, will miss out on the big event.

"The OQTS are for us together with the Olympics, the main product of basketball for men next summer and for women, February and July," Zagklis said.

"But the proximity of the two is such that there is no doubt that the OQTs are quality mini World Cups.

I'm really excited about the level of talent we will have in Lille and then Paris. I can tell you that I also see the teams from the other continents very motivated to come well prepared. So, I can only say it will be four weeks of fantastic basketball," he concluded.

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