A three-man FIBA Evaluation Commission is arriving on Thursday to assess the country’s worthiness to serve as principal host, in partnership with Japan and Indonesia, of the 2023 basketball World Cup.
Scheduled to fly in are FIBA Central Board and Commission president Hamane Niang of Mali, FIBA Central Board member and treasurer Ingo Weiss of Germany and advisor to the FIBA secretary general Lubomir Kotleba of Slovak Republic.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is held every four years, with China set to host the next edition in 2019 after beating the Philippines in a close vote.
This time, the Philippines has combined with Japan and Indonesia to bring the 2023 World Cup to Asia. If granted the rights, the Philippines will host competition for 16 of the 32 teams in the eliminations and be the host for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
The 2023 version is also the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The FIBA Evaluation Commission will be making its recommendation to the FIBA Central Board shortly after the evaluation, with a decision on the bid winner announced in December.
Other bidding countries are Russia (single host bidder), Turkey (single host bidder) and Argentina and Uruguay (co-host bidders).
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