Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) President José Luis Sáez said that "in both basketball and the world in general, women will take big steps forward in the future," according to Jesús Pérez Ramos of MUNDO DEPORTIVO. Sáez is "currently trying to help Spain host" the 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup. Sáez: "We will see the conditions that we will have to meet to host the 2018 [FIBA Women's] World Cup. FIBA will establish the process, meaning the presentation, requirements, voting, etc. We still do not know who we will compete against. We have shown that we have a desire to participate, I believe we are the only ones that have publicly said that we would like to be in this race." Sáez said that "growing the women's game is a key for his organization." Sáez said, "For us, one of the growth strategies, perhaps the most important, involves women. All that women bring has an enormous growth potential and this is key in our vision of the future. We have to make sure this vision is done well not only on the court but also through all mediums, to businesses or concepts beyond what is on the court. We can be pioneers in this. We have never said that we 'spend' money on women's basketball, despite allocating the highest budget of all federations. We 'invest.' And this investment is producing results." Sáez said of the media representation of women's sports in Spain, "I look back and think about the role of women's basketball and its importance 10 years ago. Have we grown? Yes. Have we grown exponentially? Yes. Do we have room for improvement in many ways? Yes. ... Perhaps in 20 years, some will be surprised when they see that this product will be very different" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 4/24).
