Daniel Dimevski (MKD)
19/03/2015
FIBA Family
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The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) supremo Dimevski visits House of Basketball

MIES - When Daniel Dimevski walked through the House of Basketball this week, he was reminded of great moments, great players and great coaches in the sport’s history.
 
The President of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) Basketball Federation saw plenty of memorabilia.

"The exhibition was excellent," Dimevski said to FIBA.com.
 
"It’s my second time (to visit) and I was excited by the design and the excellent displays."
 
Dimevski's own country has a special place in recent basketball history.
 
MKD have participated in the last four EuroBaskets, including the one staged four years ago in Lithuania which had a seismic impact on the sport in the Balkan nation.
 
The national team reached the Quarter-Finals and shocked the tournament hosts with a late Vlado Ilievski three-pointer.
 
"After the 2011 tournament and the excellent fourth place finish for us in Lithuania, which was the best result for our country which has less than two million people - it’s quite a small country but a very strong basketball country - we are happy to say that basketball is sport number one in our country," Dimevski said.
 
That assessment of the sport's popularity in MKD is backed up by fact.
 
"There are many licensed players," Dimevski said.
 
"We are number one in the number of licensed players, number one in TV coverage and many other figures so we are quite happy to have these figures for all measured data."
 
The sport is likely to become even more popular in the country in 2015.
 
MKD play their EuroBasket group games in nearby Zagreb, which makes it easier for the traveling fans.
 
There will also be plenty of new faces in the national squad.
 
"We are very happy because this year, we will participate in the EuroBasket in Croatia," Dimevski said.
 
"It’s a group that is quite close to us and interesting and of course, we are very happy because this will be a new generation (of players).
 
"We change a lot of players but still have a lot to offer to European audience.”
 
Dimevski takes a lot of pride in the fact that MKD has hosted a lot of youth events.
 
"In last 10 years," he said, "Macedonia was the organizer of 13 tournaments of youth categories, men and women, so I think we are absolutely a leader in that and it’s one contribution of our country to the world development of future basketball."

One of the challenges for all countries is to have strong domestic basketball competitions and federations to grow the sport.
 
Countries also have the opportunity to place teams in regional tournaments, which in MKD’s case is participation in the Adriatic League.
 
The governance of this competition is not to the liking of MKD’s Basketball Federation.
 
It was among the topics of conversation when Dimevski met with FIBA Secretary General and IOC Member Patrick Baumann this week.
 
FIBA want to help grow basketball in MKD and make sure it develops in the best way possible.

"We had very interesting discussions about the development of basketball in the country and about the position that the federation took in the matter related to the Adriatic League, which we understand is controversial right now in the region but we are very supportive of the position that FIBA Europe and the involved federations in the region took," Baumann said.
 
"It shows a clear vision, which is not against the concept of an Adriatic League as an interesting basketball development competition for the region, but a call for a transparent governance led and sanctioned by the national federations."
 
"It was a fruitful meeting," Dimevski said.
 
"We shared some ideas about the future and we continue working together working as a team about building a better basketball in the future."

FIBA