Patrick Baumann attends FIBA World Basketball Summit in Xi'an, China on Oct. 5. (Xinhua)
By Sportswriters Yao Youming and Lin Deren
XI'AN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann told Xinhua during FIBA World Basketball Summit that he hoped to see great games in 2019 FIBA World Cup to be played in China.
"I hope we will see fantastic games. We hope to see the best teams here. And we also hope to see fantastic spectators in the gyms cheer not only for the host, the home country, but for others," said Baumann.
The FIBA competition format underwent many changes through recent years, for example, FIBA designed several "windows" during the professional league season in the upcoming WC qualifiers.
"I think the system is going well. Of course the whole basketball family has a little bit adjusted. It was announced in 2012. So now some people may not have been so far adjusting the system. Now it's in excellent result. Still there are some discussions going on," said the secretary general.
"We are not talking for a while the system in a year, four times a year you have 18 countries you talk about the national team. The national team is the driving force of basketball. That's a good thing," he added.
In the groundbreaking Summit which took place here on Oct. 3-4, Chinese former basketball star player Zhu Fangyu said that the World Cup 2019 might have more influence than the 2008 Olympic Games in China, while Baumann had different option.
"I don't think we can compare World Cup with Olympic Games. Olympics has something very special, even for a basketball athlete, for a professional athlete, it's a different feeling. The World Cup is about being the best in the world. It's being the world champion," said the IOC member.
"China has proven with the Olympic Games in 2008 that it can organize the sports event. But not just with the Olympic Games, with any event. And here we come. We believe that it's going to be a fantastic market event in the year of 2019, which will resonate not just in China but also worldwide," said Baumann.
"The (World Cup) final would be a very interesting game. We have 32 countries, which would be extremely interesting for two weeks. So there's gonna be a lot of people watching basketball games, a lot of people getting to know China," the Swiss continued.
During the World Cup qualifiers, FIBA lets Australia and New Zealand to compete with Asian teams for the qualifying spots. "From an Asian perspective, we believe either Australia or New Zealand can bring a little bit more challenges to some Asian teams. The winner of Asia always come back with frustration from World Championships or Olympic Games. We want to take that frustration away," Baumann explained.
Yao Ming and the Chinese Basketball Association are working and developing Chinese youth basketball for kids from six to twelve years old, they are promoting a "small basketball" program which includes lower basket, smaller ball, smaller court and so on.
"I think investing into the young kids and to the younger boys and girls is extremely important for everybody. These people will grow up. They will be the future Yao Ming maybe, or the future coaches, or the future spectators. Who knows?"
"They say 10 to 12 would be the right age to have that kind of virus for the whole life. If this program achieves it, this means the next generation, for the next 20 or 30 years. That is very good for us. We like basketball. I can only congratulate CBA for this initiative," Baumann said.
Besides the "small basketball" program, Yao is making changes in China's CBA league. "I heard that some decisions toward what's gonna happen in the league, giving more space to younger players and to national players rather than foreign players. That's gonna be leading China to success. That is not just off the court because of Yao Ming effect, but also on the court when that happens, their voice in the world will have much more weight than they may have today," the 51-year-old said.
"Maybe China lacks a number of coaches of quality, but it is moving in the right direction," Baumann insisted.
"We are fortunate that China has a love for our games. What we want is that this love for the game translated into good results on the court," the FIBA official added.