Basketball
THE HISTORY OF FIBA AND INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL
Although Dr. James Naismith is recognized for inventing the game of basketball in December 1891, it wasn't until June 18, 1932, in Geneva, Switzerland that an international federation concerned with just basketball was formed.
Then, less than three years later on February 28, 1935, the International Basketball Federation (FIBB) was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) helping clear the way for men's basketball to become part of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games.
The
first international body to claim jurisdiction over the sport of basketball
was the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), which in 1926 formed
a special commission to govern all ball games played with the hands, such as
field-handball, court-handball, volleyball and basketball.
Two years later during the Games of the IXth Olympiad held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the IAAF invited representatives from various national associations to consider the forming of an independent body to govern all ball games played with hands. Representatives from 10 countries met in Amsterdam on August 4, 1928 and decided to form the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF).
Although the IAHF Technical Commission for Basketball was created to direct and control the game of basketball, it never once met. Six years after being formed, the IAHF Technical Commission for Basketball was dissolved and on September 1, 1934 the IAHF renounced its international control over basketball to the International Basketball Federation (FIBB).
After several failed attempts to establish an independent international federation for just basketball, the first International Basketball Conference was held June 18, 1932. It was at this conference that FIBB was formed with eight national basketball associations among the original founders of FIBB -- Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland.
As the popularity of basketball grew, so did the number of FIBB's member nations. By the end of 1934, Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United States had joined, raising FIBB's membership number to 17 nations. By the time of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, FIBB's membership had expanded to include 32 nations, 23 of which sent basketball teams to the first Olympic basketball competition in Berlin.
CLAUDIA & TANIA