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IWBF Executive Council Member and CLME Chair, Francisca Ravestein, has been promoted to Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau for her contribution to national and international basketball. She was presented with the accompanying decorations by Jaap Smit, King's Commissioner in South Holland. In that province, Ravestein was mayor of the municipality of Pijnacker-Nootdorp from 2014 to early 2022. She was already a Member (1998) and Knight (2002) in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Vice-President Frank Berteling attended the meeting on behalf of the Dutch Basketball Association. Ravestein was chairman of the NBB from 2010 to 2020 and was appointed Member of Merit of the association last year. Since 2014, she has been a board member of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, a position she still holds.
During her presidency, a number of major basketball events have taken place in the Netherlands, including the 2012 Women's U17 World Cup, the European Championship 3x3 (2017), the World Cup 3x3 (2019) and the Women's European Wheelchair Basketball Championship (2019).
IWBF President, Ulf Mehrens, congratulated Francisca saying:
"Francisca has played and plays a crucial role to advocate for the inclusion in sport from the grassroots to the elite level of sport to build up sustainable and effective structures of equality and inclusion. Since becoming a member of the IWBF Executive Council in 2014, she has chaired the Commission for Legal Matters and Eligibility (CLME), overseeing IWBF's legal affairs, regulations, membership applications of new member nations and the international transfers of players. On behalf of IWBF, we congratulate Francisca on receiving this well-deserved honour."
