By Sportswriter Yao Youming
XI'AN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann died on Sunday. Just 11 days ago, he sat down for an exclusive interview with Xinhua during the FIBA World Basketball Summit held in Xi'an, China, from Oct. 3-4.
During the 30-minute interview, Baumann expressed his passion for the sport and his ambition for the development of basketball worldwide.
Under Baumann's leadership, the FIBA competition format underwent many changes in recent years. FIBA designed several "windows" during the professional league season for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. "I think the system is going well," he told Xinhua, "of course the whole basketball family adjusted a little bit."
Baumann admitted that discussions are still ongoing, but the new World Cup competition is in excellent health, because the system can help promote the national team, which he believed is "the driving force of basketball."
In the groundbreaking summit, Chinese former basketball star Zhu Fangyu said that the World Cup 2019 to be held in China, might have more influence than the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but Baumann didn't quite agree. "I don't think we can compare [the] World Cup with [the] Olympic Games. The Olympics has something very special, even for a basketball athlete," said the IOC member.
"The World Cup is about being the best in the world. It's [about] being the world champion." But, having seen what former IOC president Jacques Rogge called "truly exceptional" games, Baumann seemed confident in the next World Cup.
"China has proven with the Olympic Games in 2008 that it can organize a sports event. But not just with the Olympic Games, with any event. And here we come. We believe that it's going to be a fantastic event in 2019, which will resonate not just in China but also worldwide," he said.
During the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, Australia and New Zealand for the first time are competing with Asian teams for qualifying spots. The new rule, according to Baumann, is intended to lift the level of Asian teams. "It's important to measure yourself [against the best]. It's important to go out," said the former FIBA boss. "The winner of Asia always comes back with frustration from the world championships or the Olympic Games. We want to take that frustration away."
As an IOC member, Baumann brought the 3x3 basketball event to the Olympics as an effort to promote the sport worldwide. The event will debut in 2020 in Tokyo. On the one hand, "we want more people to play in basketball games. We want to attract [those] who don't want to play in the clubs ... Because there are good people out there. But they want to be more free in the way they play," Baumann told Xinhua.
On the other hand, Baumann believed, 3x3 could help "grow the skills of the players" so that one day "it would be a little bit more competitive for the gold medal at the world championship or Olympic Games."
"So for us this is also an investment in having more skilled basketball players around the globe. Maybe one day it will translate to better skills in five on five. But I think it has its own path to come to Olympic Games," he added.
