Swedish Basketball Federation

The Swedish Basketball Federation (Swedish: Svenska Basketbollförbundet) also known as SBBF is the governing body of basketball in Sweden. It was established on 25 October 1952 out of the Swedish Handball Federation's basketball section, which had been started in 1948.[1] Its headquarters are in Stockholm.

Swedish Basketball Federation
SportBasketball
JurisdictionSweden
AbbreviationSBBF
Founded25 October 1952 (1952-10-25)
AffiliationFIBA
Regional affiliationFIBA Europe
HeadquartersStockholm
PresidentSusanne Jidesten
Official website
www.basket.se
Sweden

The Swedish Basketball Federation operates the Sweden men's national basketball team and Sweden women's national team. They organize national competitions in Sweden, for both the men's and women's senior teams and also the youth national basketball teams.[2]

The top professional league in Sweden is the Basketligan.[3]

History

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In 1948, the Swedish Basketball Federation was established as a section within the Swedish Handball Federation. Four years later, it became its own separate association, and the first chairman of the federation was Lars-Åke Nilsson.[4] Sweden's first participation in the European Championship was in 1953, where they finished, seventeenth out of 17 teams, at last place. The first national championships (SM-serierna) for men started in 1954, and for women in 1957. KFUM Söder (today Fryshuset Basket) won the championship for men, and BK Rilton for women.

In the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, Sweden's men's national team participated for the first time and finished in tenth place in the tournament. In 1992, under Kenny Lövingsson’s chairmanship,[5] the Swedish Basketball League (Basketligan) was established in Sweden, consisting of 13 teams.[6] Sweden participated in two consecutive European Championships (1993 and 1995), which were held in Germany and Greece, respectively. In 2003, Sweden hosted the European Championship for men, where Lithuania emerged as the European champions.

In 1998, the first Swedish player, Tanja Kostic, was drafted to the world's premier women's basketball league, the WNBA.[7] On the men's side, it was Jonas Jerebko from Kinna who got drafted to the Detroit Pistons in 2009.[8]

Sweden's women's national team competed in the 2013 European Championship in France and finished in seventh place, their best placement since 1987.

Competitions

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National Leagues
Level Men Women
1 Swedish Basketball League
11 teams
Basketligan dam
14 teams
2 Superettan (basketball)
13 teams
3 Basketettan21 teams

Chairpersons

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  1. 1952–1969: Lars-Åke Nilsson
  2. 1969–1975: Leif Forsberg
  3. 1975–1979: Anders Wijkman
  4. 1979–1986: Bengt Wallin
  5. 1986–1990: Arne Jansson
  6. 1990–1991: Kaj Sandell
  7. 1991–1992: Eleonor Rehn-Jacobsson
  8. 1992–1996: Kenny Lövingsson
  9. 1996–1999: Kari Marklund
  10. 1999–2001: Kaj Krantz
  11. 2001–2004: Niklas Nordström
  12. 2004–2008: Jan Jacobsen
  13. 2008–2009: Anna Westin
  14. 2009–2016: Hans Von Uthmann
  15. 2016–2020: Mats Carlson
  16. 2020–: Susanne Jidesten

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Förbundets historia" (in Swedish). Swedish Basketball Federation. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Sweden FIBA Europe". eurobasket.com. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Swedish Professional league" (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Förbundets historia" (in Swedish). Svenska Basketbollförbundet. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Basketen rensar rejält. Lövingsson ny bas. Distrikten "sparkar" ledamöter". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2 September 1992. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  6. ^ Svenska Basketligan - Historia Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Tanja Kostic". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  8. ^ Fraschilla, Fran (20 May 2009). "NBA draft: Top 5 European prospects". ESPN. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
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