Zagklis: “Iyana Martín is on her way to becoming a global phenomenon”
Andreas Zagklis He had words of praise for the Spanish base Iyana Martín, who has made an impact in Berlin by leading the Spanish National Team to win the bronze medal. For the FIBA Secretary General, “Iyana Martín is an exponent of what these new generations can achieve. She was the ‘MVP’ of the 2023 U19 World Cup in Madrid and has already signed a great sponsorship agreement with a FIBA partner. The players are beginning to enjoy these opportunities and I am extremely proud of it.”
As a result, the Greek leader dared to make a medium-term forecast. “I can tell you that at the Los Angeles Olympic Games our players can be at the same or even surpass the level of popularity of many of our players. And this is not a criticism, but the result of the collective growth of the game. We are proud of both of them who have made our sport a global phenomenon. The example of Iyana or of Caitlin Clark “That’s how it proves.”
A more inclusive world cup
Zagklis He stressed that “the 2026 World Cup in Germany has taken the competition to a different level. It began its journey just a few days after Parisin the Games Olympics, starting with the qualifiers for the first time in Mexico and Rwanda in a new competition format that involves more teams on the route to the World Cup. On this occasion, with 48 participants where the two teams that won the pre-qualifiers of Hungary and Czechiathey came to Berlin and they competed very well. We have experienced the expansion to 16 teams, and of course, one of the main reasons for this decision was to improve the opportunities of national teams to play at a higher level, to strengthen what is very important for us, the middle class of federations that have been investing in the development of women.
Not only has it increased in number of teams but also in competitiveness, since “in Sydney We had 5 games resolved by 10 or less points difference. A figure that we have doubled in this tournament. This is the first time with 16 teams and that Africa It has two based on its own merits, not based on quotas. MaliFor example, he showed at what level he can compete”
In the opinion of Zagklisthe players “understand what it means to represent your country, to put the flag on your chest, but they also understand that this can be key in their career and we want them to feel the attention. That is why we empower them with more content and more attention.”
Bet on the health of the players
The general secretary FIBA He also highlighted the best conditions enjoyed by the protagonists: “For the first time, the policy of individual rooms, of reducing back-to-backs that will continue to be improved, attention for the players in a 5-star hotel dedicated exclusively to them, a welcome area where they can interact with the fans at the entrance to the pavilion… All this, together with the sale of tickets, which has been spectacular, gives an idea of the dimension of the event. We had 80% of the tickets sold just two weeks later. of the draw and I want to thank, not only the organization, but the 16 participating federations, for their involvement in achieving this unprecedented success with more than two billion impressions thanks also to the interaction of the players themselves.
That is why the event calendar was also analyzed by the secretary generalwho recalled that “we have closed an agreement for the first time with WNBA so that their season stops at an important part of their competition, just before the playoffs so that 51 players can be present in Berlin. In the next Japan World Cup 2030 The date will be moved to the last week of November and the first week of December to adjust the calendars and continue working on improving conditions. Here we did not have time to give enough rest between matches for the players. Although we have improved it, but we will continue on this path.”
