SBP president Al Panlilio.
MANILA, Philippines — Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio has been appointed as the 2nd Vice President of the Fiba Asia board for 2023-2027 after the Zone Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.
Panlilio will be part of the board for the next five years with Dr. K. Govindraj being elected as president, succeeding outgoing Fiba Asia president Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani
Govindraj of India has served Asian basketball for more than 30 years.
Former NBA star Yao Ming was elected chairman, while Akram Halabi was picked as the 1st Vice President.
Fiba Secretary General Mr. Andreas Zagklis stressed the importance of the upcoming World Cup hosting of the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia in August.
“We play this year our biggest event, the Fiba Basketball World Cup in 3 Asian countries. The Philippines, Japan and Indonesia and this will the first time in three countries combining together almost 500 million people. It will be an unprecedented event in terms of quality for the players and the fans,” Zagklis said in a statement.
“I want to thank these countries for taking the flag from China, and they will pass it on the 10th of September to another Asian country, Qatar,” he added.
The newly elected Fiba Asia board members will be joining the Fiba Executive Director – Asia Hagop Khajirian and the 6 Sub-Zone representatives, Yuko Mitsuya (EABA), Kho Poo Thai (SEABA), Tarif Koutrach (WABA), Abay Alpamyssov (CABA), Abhijit Sarker (SABA) and Dr. Ghassan Tashkandi (Gulf), to the board.
Khajirian expressed his gratitude to outgoing Fiba Asia President Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani and the previous board.
“Our basketball fraternity stood strong and displayed great fortitude during the pandemic, and I’m personally duty bound to express my gratitude to all our National Member Federations and their boards,” he said.