“I wanted to see with my own eyes how this Lithuanian phenomenon works because it is really incredible that a small country with a population of just 3 million inhabitants is having such a huge success in basketball. So I wanted to see with my own eyes how you do it and to adapt the Lithuanian reality to the context of other federations,” Muratore told journalists via an interpreter in Vilnius on Monday after meeting with Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Loreta Graužiniene.
Muratore said he wanted to introduce to the five strongest basketball countries in the world the forthcoming changes within FIBA, including a new Olympic selection format when 18 men basketball teams will vie in three separate groups for three spots in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
According to the international basketball rating, the US comes first, followed by Spain, Argentina, Lithuania and France.
On Tuesday, Muratore is scheduled to meet with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius.
The Argentinean was elected FIBA president last August and will serve until 2019.
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