THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) remains upbeat as it awaits the decision of Fiba on the awarding of hosting rights to the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments ahead of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
"We're looking forward with positive expectations," said SBP executive director Sonny Barrios as they count down the days before the January 19 announcement on the three hosts of the Olympic wildcard qualifiers.
Unlike in the bidding for the hosting of the 2019 Basketball World Cup which the Philippines lost to China last year, no presentations will be necessary this time, according to SBP deputy director for international affairs Butch Antonio.
Instead, the SBP Executive Committee will merely convene on January 19 at the Fiba headquarters in Geneva and assess the bids of six countries for the men's tournament and two for the women's qualifiers, Antonio added.
Aside from the Philippines, Czech Republic, France, Turkey, Germany and Italy have submitted bids for the hosting rights of the men's tournaments while Spain and France and the candidates to host the 12-team women's qualifiers.
Once it names the hosts of the three Olympic qualifiers, Fiba will conduct the draw a week later, or on January 26, to determine the six teams playing in each of the three men's tournaments.
Barrios said the SBP has already submitted a written bid in the format required by Fiba, which contained details like its operating budget, venue, hotels for the team's accommodation requirements and hosting fee.
The minimum hosting fee is pegged at 1.8 million euros (around P93 million).
The SBP plans to hold all the games at the Mall of Asia Arena, which was also one of the venues when the Philippines hosted the Fiba Asia Championship in Manila in 2013, Barrios added.
Barrios said SBP head Manny V. Pangilinan and the other basketball leaders are optimistic about the chances of the Philippines landing one of the three hosting rights, being the only bidder from Asia.
"Among other reasons, I base my optimism in our being the only Asian country vying to host (the tournaments)," said the former PBA commissioner. "That's an advantage if Fiba is to project wide global reach."