CANADA
1994
The incorporation of NBA players to FIBA competitions was an authentic
revolution. Never before had a basketball event started with such a clear
favourite for the title; there could be no other winner than the USA team who
was light years ahead of the rest of the participants.
If this were not enough the break up of the USSR and Yugoslavia led to the dismantling of their
teams and Serbia and Montenegro, the only two republics who continued playing under the
Yugoslav flag, were prohibited from international competition until 1995 by UN sanctions.
The razzamatazz surrounding the participation of the “Dream Team” in the Barcelona Olympics in
1992 hid a subsequent problem. Equality in the competition had become a thing of the past and
the gold medal would become the perpetual property of the USA, all of whose teams were dubbed
“Dream Team” although this title can really only be applied to the original version. The other
participants were taking part in a parallel competition in which the silver medal became the first
prize.
The presence of the USA teams changed competitiveness for an opportunity to see the best
players in the world together, a guarantee of talent and show business. However the latter was
only true of the team that came out onto the court in Barcelona; that Dream Team could truly
boast of being the best team that has ever stepped onto the hardwood in the centenarian history
of basketball. The level reached by Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Ewing and company has never
been seen again in basketball competition. And of all the teams playing under this title the team
that played in the Canada World Championship was undoubtedly the most unpleasant, arrogant
and obnoxious.
The Canadian organisers decided to plan the competition in a US style, every concession possible
was made to television and they bent over backwards to accommodate the US players. The US
television companies applied such pressure that FIBA was forced to accept the inclusion of four
unofficial timeouts in each half, in addition to the two permitted to each coach, to enable them to
have more advertising breaks during each match. A FIBA representative was responsible for
stopping the match, often to the intense irritation of the participating teams who lost the impetus
of the game.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP