With BFI recognition, 3x3 Professional Basketball League, 3BL, to become Road to Olympic for India!

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➢ Next level basketball in India, 3BL with the recognition of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

➢ 3BL is now among the only organizations in the world to have exclusive rights from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as well as the National Federation (BFI).

➢ The recognition will significantly improve India's chances for qualifying in the 3x3 basketball gamesat the 2024 Paris Olympics.

➢ After completing 2 successful seasons, upcoming Season 3 to be announced soon keeping in mind COVID related health & safety protocols.

Delhi, 24^th May 2021: This is a historic moment for India.National Basketball Federation has officially granted recognition to 3BL, India's only FIBA's exclusively recognized 3x3 professional basketball league.

With the recognition and support of BFI, the game of basketball is ready to get a mega increase within the country. Particularly in the shorter 3x3 Basketball format and appreciably enhance India's qualification probabilities for the 3x3 basketball games in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

To know more about the association and what does it mean for the game of Basketball in India we had a Q&A with Mr. Rohit Bakshi, Commissioner of 3BL.

Q: Please tell us about 3BL and its current affiliation with Basketball Federation of India?

A: 3BL, 3x3 Pro Basketball League Indian Sub-continent, has been exclusively recognized by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, since 2017. We have been operating a professional league from 2017 to 2019.

Acknowledging the success of 3BL, BFI has agreed to recognize 3BL as the exclusive National 3x3 Basketball League from 2021 onwards. Thus, this makes 3BL among the select professional 3x3 basketball leagues in the world to be exclusively identified by both the national and international basketball federations.

Q: How will this association be beneficial for the sport and its players?

A: Players from all departments in India will be able to find professional opportunities beyond their regular non-basketball related government and private sector jobs.

BFI-recognized referees would also be able to participate. This association will bring more trust and reliability for sponsors and investors for the league as well as National TV channels to broadcast 3BL matches.

Q: It has been quoted that association with BFI can lead to improved chances for India in the next Olympic Games in Paris. Can you please elaborate on this?

A: There are only 2 ways for any country to participate in 3x3 games in the Olympics:

1) To have the top 4 National Federation ranking. This will allow top 4 federations to participate in the Olympics directly.

2) To qualify via Olympic qualifiers, based on National Federation Ranking.

Let me elaborate:

• National Federation ranking is based on top 100 national players' FIBA 3x3 ranking points.
• Player rankings are decided based on the level of tournaments they play. There are multiple 3x3 Basketball tournaments, such as World Tour Masters, Challengers or pro league, 3BL, and other international tournaments. Currently, Serbia is on the top of the men's category because they are dominating in the World Tours. World Tour has the highest points which makes it toughest tournament to compete. In fact, World Tour points are higher than World Cup 3x3 Basketball tournaments.

Based on the above information, 3BL has the 3^rd top ranking systems given by FIBA. Additionally, every season, 3BL teams are given access to compete in 2 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters. 3BL's exclusivity from FIBA grants us the only organization to have the 2 direct accesses to World Tour Masters every year.

Association with BFI will give us the top players and referees, which will help to grow the games and compete in the international events such as World Tour and Challengers.

Q: When do you plan to have the League this year and how it will be different from its previous seasons?

A: We are waiting for the pandemic situation in India to get better. As of now, we are planning to host the event in September 2021 with full COVID health protocol, and creating a bubble for players and all other staff including referees.

We have been organizing 3BL in the high traffic areassince 2017 because we wanted to bring the sport to the people. This year we are planning an indoor facility without audience, keeping in mind the safety of the players and staff. In the latest edition, we plan to have700 LEDs placed around the 3x3 basketball court. This will be used to show live fans to interact with players as well as will give the dynamic view on TV channels.

Q: What is the format of 3BL in India?

A: 3BL has 12 men's franchises and 6 women'sfranchises. It has 6 tournaments in a season. Every tournament lasts 2 days, where every team plays in around-robin cum knockout format.

For men's category: The first day is the round-robin featuring 4 groups of 3 teams. Top 2 teams from each group will move to day two. Day two is the knockout between top 8 teams. i.e. quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

For women's category: They only participate on day 2. They too follow the round-robin and then knockoutformat, but all this happens in one day since there are only 6 teams. There are 2 groups of 3 teams, and top 2 teams from each group will play a knockout in the same day. i.e. semi-finals and final.

Q: What are YKBK's future plans to take the 3BL league to the next level?

A: We are working towards making Indian basketball players to make salaries in crores every year from playing 3BL. We want to telecast 3BL games on National channels, expand the League in neighboring countries, and bring top 3x3 players from around the world to grow the competition in India.

At the same time, we are aiming to improve grassroots level basketball in India to create future 3x3 superstars. We wish to reach every milestone in order to have Indian men and women's teams qualifying to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Q: Where do you see 3BL in India 3 years from now?

A: In the next 3 years, we see our players to earn salariesin crores per year, qualifying to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Moreover, we also want the future generation to build interest in basketball as a career and live their dreams.