Express News Service
New Delhi, June 16 : Top officials from the international basketball federation (FIBA) are arriving in the Capital next month to discuss programmes relating to the promotion of basketball in the country. Bob Elphinston and Patrick Bauman, the president and secretary-general respectively of the FIBA, will meet sports minister MS Gill and top Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials in the first week of July.

Harish Sharma, secretary-general of Basketball Federation of India (BFI), said Elphinston and Bauman were particularly keen on helping the federation and the ministry in carrying out some of their projects to develop and promote the game in the country, especially after basketball was placed on the ministry’s priority list.

The FIBA visit will coincide with the American National Basketball Association’s (NBA) four-day ‘Basketball Without Borders’ event in which over 50 young players, including five Indians, from across Asia will rub shoulders with Kyle Korver of the Utah Jazz, Ronny Turiaf of the LA Lakers, Pat Garrity of Orlando Magic and Linton Johnson of Phoenix Sons.

Sharma said he would discuss some of BFI’s projects with the FIBA officials, including asking for funds for the launch of a professional league “We already have a big professional league on our mind and with help coming from both FIBA and NBA, we could be moving in the right direction,” Sharma said.