The next European Championship will be converted in the new teams’ record FIMBA event. One hundred and six teams from 23 countries have already been registered for Pesaro 2008, two months previous the tournament. It looks to be the biggest tournament even made in Europe since the creation of this popular championship in the region in 2000.
Countries full of basketball history will attend the tournament in almost all the categories. Countries where FIMBA Tournaments were made in the past, show how Maxibasketball has grown-up in these places. All of them will bring several teams according to the development of the category in their countries.
As always, there will be new countries involved in the 5th European Championship as Austria, Slovakia and Montenegro. Some others, as Russia, will bring over 20 teams.
US and New Zealand have been selected as the American and Australasia Ambassadors teams for this event. One men team and one women team will give the support of the rest of the world to this movement in Europe. For the first time since this competition was created, many teams from out of Europe were willing to attend the games. The draft for the American Ambassador team has been made in Montevideo during the last Pan-American Championship among 12 teams.
There is an increase of 100% in only 8 years and in just 4 events in the region. It is not because a fortuity reason but because FIMBA is working hard in the development of Maxibasketball in the entire world and accompanies it with many actions beside sport. The Travel and Opinion blogs and FimbaTV in the website, the edition of different books with a private publisher, the partnership with different NGO’s around the world, the academic support to the second age, the coaching to the next host cities of FIMBA events, the teaching and controlling to the FIMBA Referees, the decision to organize a world net of Travel Agents to help the participants and many more issues are the real reason.