3x3 basketball is due to make its debut on the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020 having been added as a new discipline by the International Olympic Committee.

It followed 3x3 basketball featuring at every Summer Youth Olympic Games since it was launched at Singapore in 2010.

Zagklis expressed his confidence in preparations for next year's tournament, where the discipline will hope to make a strong impression.

The Greek official played down the idea that star names from the traditional 5x5 basketball format would be required to boost attention for the event.

“We are very happy with Tokyo," he said.

“The competition will be at a level which will attract attention.

“The signals we are getting from Tokyo are very encouraging about interest.

“We have had big attendances in ticketed and free events.

“We have had events where the same seat would have five or six different people on the same day, starting from the early afternoon until the late evening.

“We will measure our success on the capability to create new stars for the game.”

Zagklis pointed to the growth of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour, as well as revealing the governing body had seen record numbers on social media prior to the discipline's Olympic debut.

This included the growth of viewers on YouTube, where 3x3 competitions have been streamed.

FIBA are hopeful the development of 3x3 could double the amount of participants in basketball, with Zagklis suggesting they organisation expects to see an increased specialisation of players in the format.

It is also hoped the development of 3x3 basketball could broaden the number of nations playing in FIBA events.

“3x3 has become part of FIBA’s strategy and we believe part of the Olympic Games because it would bring in a number of players who would play 3x3 and do not have a licence for 5x5," Zagklis said.

“We are expecting a number that is at least double and will see new athletes being developed and come on the scene.

“We hope the Olympic tournament will give us new stars and put some countries on the stage that would not have traditionally played at the Games."

The 3x3 basketball tournament at Tokyo 2020 will see eight teams compete in a single pool in both the men’s and women’s events.

They will play two round robin matches per day on the first three days of competition from July 25 to 27.

The teams will then play their final group stage match on July 28, with the quarter-finals held later that day.

The semi-finals and medal matches will be held the following day.

The top three nations from the FIBA rankings will qualify automatically for the Tokyo 2020 tournaments.

Four of the remaining spots will be allocated at a qualification event involving teams ranked number four to 24 in the world and a separate process will determine the final place at the Games.

As the countdown continues towards the Olympic Games, 3x3 basketball will debut at this year's Pan American Games in Lima and will feature on the European Games programme in Minsk.

3x3 basketball will also feature at this year's World Urban Games in Budapest and at the ANOC World Beach Games in San Diego.