FIBA Central Board appoints Andreas Zagklis as Secretary General

MIES, Switzerland - FIBA's Central Board on Friday unanimously agreed to appoint Andreas Zagklis as new FIBA Secretary General.

Currently Director Legal Services and General Counsel, Andreas Zagklis was hired by FIBA in 2016 after having acted for 9 years as its external legal advisor. His appointment becomes effective as of 8 December 2018.

A Greek national, Andreas Zagklis, 38, has been active in basketball for more than 20 years.

FIBA President Horacio Muratore said: "I'm very pleased that we have chosen our fourth Secretary General from among our own management team. A true basketball person, Andreas knows very well our organization and he is the right person to lead FIBA following the strategy adopted by the FIBA Congress. We are all convinced that he will put all efforts in making basketball the most popular sports community in the world, FIBA's vision."

FIBA President Horacio Muratore and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis

Commenting on his new role, Andreas Zagklis added: "I would like to thank the Central Board members for the trust bestowed in me. The mission is clear, to grow our sport throughout the world and unite the basketball community. I will serve it mindful of FIBA's values and rich history. FIBA will continue to work hand in hand with its national member federations on male and female programs in its two Olympic disciplines as well as support wheelchair basketball. In today’s competitive environment, we shall be modern administrators, prudent regulators and excellent event organisers in order to meet the high expectations of the basketball family, most notably our players, clubs, leagues, fans and partners."

The role of Secretary General was vacant since the tragic death of Patrick Baumann on October 13 in Buenos Aires.

Andreas Zagklis received his under- and post-graduate degrees from the Law School of the University of Athens while he spent two semesters as visiting student at the Universities of Salamanca (Spain) and Western Ontario (Canada) respectively. He also completed the postgraduate program on Olympic Studies at the International Olympic Academy. Most recently, he attended the Leadership in Corporate Counsel program at the Harvard Law School (USA).

In his professional career, Mr. Zagklis advised basketball players, coaches and clubs and acted as assistant to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in three Olympic Games (2004, 2006, 2008). He practiced next to the pioneer sports lawyers Pantelis Dedes (Greece, 2004-2008) and Dirk-Reiner Martens (Germany, 2008-2016), before his appointment to head the FIBA Legal Department. He was instrumental in the growth of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT), supervising more than 1,000 basketball-related cases, as well as in the governance changes adopted by the extraordinary FIBA Congress in 2014.

He has published numerous scientific articles in the areas of good governance, dispute resolution and commercial rights in sports. He also frequently lectures on management of sporting events and sports law at the Universities of Neuchâtel and Zurich in Switzerland

Mr. Zagklis was a basketball player, coach and administrator in Greece.  He speaks five languages: English, Spanish, German, French and Greek.

Mr. Zagklis is married and has two children.

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

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