The great leap of Jorge Garbajosa: elected president of FIBA Europe

Never has a Spaniard stepped so high in the command posts of world basketball. Jorge Garbajosa (Torrejón de Ardoz, 1977) has been elected this Saturday in Munich as president of FIBA Europe, after a vote in which he defeated Frenchman Jean Pierre Siutat, president of the French Federation. Succeeds Turkish Turgay Demirel in office.

In the FIBA Europe Assembly, the top leaders of the 50 continental federations voted. Garbajosa was accompanied by Gabriel Rodríguez de la Paz, FEB general secretary, and by Elisa Aguilar, who was in charge of presenting his candidacy.

After this jump from the former international player, who became president of the FEB in 2016 (and was re-elected in 2020), Garbajosa is forced to leave his position before the start of the World Cup in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan on August 25, which would open an electoral period in the Federation to choose a successor. Elisa Aguilar, currently director of Competitions for the Federation, is the main candidate, which will make her the first female president of the FEB.

The successes of the Spanish Federation at an institutional and sports level have promoted the ambitious candidacy of Garbajosa. With the men's team, current European and World champion and number one in the FIBA ranking, as spearhead and with the training categories signing unforgettable summers of medals, it has also helped the former Unicaja and Real Madrid player, among others, his conciliatory character in the midst of the great struggles that divide basketball.

“I want to express my joy, satisfaction and gratitude for all that I have experienced today.. I want to thank all the European Federations that have supported me to be able to access something I have dreamed of for a long time and all those who make up the pyramid of Spanish basketball. If I have the honor of living this day, it is because Spanish Basketball is a reference throughout the world.. I am starting a new stage with the experience I have had from working for seven years and I wish you the best”, declared Garbajosa.