THE ZONES
17.1 To promote the co-ordination of basketball worldwide, the Congress may establish Zones in geographic regions. The Zones are divisions of FIBA with delegated authority to take decisions in their geographic regions as per these General Statutes and the Internal Regulations of FIBA. They shall not be organised as legal entities and shall act only through the Regional Offices.
17.2 The FIBA Zones in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania have been established in order to ensure proximity to the national member federations in the Zone and to run the regional affairs.
17.3 The establishment of a Zone in no respect affects the direct affiliation of each national member federation to FIBA.
17.4 Upon becoming a member of FIBA, a national member federation is assigned to a Zone by the Central Board.
17.5 The national member federations of FIBA are grouped by Zones as per the Annex to these General Statutes.
17.6 The mission of the Zones shall be:
a. To establish their own development plans as an extension and reflection of the FIBA strategic objectives, adjusted to the conditions in their geographic regions. These plans shall be submitted to the Central Board and form the basis of the allocation of financial resources to the Regional Offices;
b. To promote the practice of basketball in their geographic regions;
c. To improve the technical standards and administrative level of national member federations;
d. To support the development of additional competitions or programmes, which will assist in the growth and development of the game of basketball;
e. To develop strategies allowing the Regional Offices to be financially self-sustainable; and
f. To assign specific tasks for the Regional Offices to fulfil the foregoing missions taking into account the circumstances prevailing in their respective Zone. ARTICLE 18: ORGANISATION OF THE ZONES
18.1 Zones are authorised to organise their affairs in the manner most appropriate in their geographic region, subject to these General Statutes and the Internal Regulations of FIBA, and to decisions by the Congress, the Central Board and the Executive Committee. To that end, Zones shall have Zone Regulations setting forth the role, authority and responsibilities of the various bodies of the Zone. Subject to Article 15.2.3, such Zone Regulations shall enter into force only after their approval by the Central Board. They shall inter alia provide for the following rights and obligations:
a. To assign and regulate the organisation of Zone competitions in a permanent and regular manner;
b. To ensure that international leagues or any such groups of clubs shall not be formed without complying with these General Statutes, the Internal Regulations, other rules and regulations and decisions of FIBA;
c. To elect for one (1) four (4) year term of office, renewable only once, prior to the elective Congress, the Zone President. He may not hold an official position within a national member federation. In the event that sub-zones have been established (cf. Article 18.1 i.), the position of Zone President shall rotate between the sub-zones and is not renewable, unless approved otherwise by the Central Board. In view of the Zone President's membership in the Central Board (cf. Article 15.1.4 a. dd.), the name and available information of the candidate(s) shall be submitted to the Nominations Panel no later than two (2) months before the Zone election;
d. To hold assemblies of all national member federations assigned to the Zone at least every two years;
e. To establish and elect the members of a Zone Board, which will deal with matters of the Zone between the Zone Assemblies;
f. To establish Zone Committees to advise and assist the Zone Assemblies and the Zone Boards in their duties. The establishment of Zone Committees must be co-ordinated with the Central Board so as to avoid duplication of work;
g. To establish a Finance Committee, which shall have the following duties: aa. To propose to the Zone Board the amount of levies, fees, charges, fines and other financial obligations that may be imposed on the national member federations assigned to the Zone; bb. To assist the Executive Director in the preparation of a four (4) year budget for the Regional Office and monitor the implementation of the budget’s sections related to the development of the sport in the Zone and to its competitions, once it has been approved by the Executive Committee; and cc. To present the financial statements of the Regional Office to the Zone Board and Zone Assembly.
h. To establish a process referring disputes to the FIBA Appeals’ Panel; and
i. To form, with the approval of the Central Board, regional sub-divisions. The Central Board may order the restructuring or disbandment of such sub-divisions if it believes that they are not in the interest of basketball.
18.2 Decisions of the Zone bodies shall always comply with these General Statutes, the Internal Regulations, other rules and regulations and decisions of FIBA. They can be implemented only by the Regional Offices.
18.3 The FIBA President and the FIBA Secretary General have the right to participate in the meetings of all Zone bodies. ARTICLE 19: THE REGIONAL OFFICES
19.1 Each FIBA Regional Office is organised as a non-profit-making legal entity (or group of entities) owned by FIBA (herein referred to as "Regional Office"), in the manner most appropriate to the conditions prevailing in the country in which the Regional Office has its seat.
19.2 Each Regional Office is managed by a chief executive officer (preferred title and herein referred to as “Executive Director”) appointed by the Executive Committee after consultation with the Zone Board. Unless otherwise decided by the Central Board, he shall be an ex officio member of the Zone Board with a right to vote.
19.3 The Executive Director shall report to FIBA and also provide full information about the activities and financial status of the Regional Office to the Zone Board and Zone Assembly. In the event of conflict between decisions of the Central Board, the Executive Committee or the Secretary General and those taken by the Zone bodies, the former shall prevail.
19.4 Regional Offices shall have the required staff to implement the decisions of FIBA and Zone bodies in their geographic regions and shall provide administrative support to Zone bodies and officials.
19.5 The FIBA Executive Committee has the power to give, through the Secretary General, binding instructions to the Regional Offices and to take any appropriate measure to implement these instructions. The Regional Offices are not authorised to represent FIBA before third parties.
19.6 The Regional Offices shall implement the strategies developed by their respective bodies, also with a view to being financially self-sustainable.
19.7 Decisions of the Regional Offices must be enforced by the national member federations assigned to the respective Zone.