China, to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the FIBA Central Board announced on Friday, August 7 in Tokyo, Japan.
FIBA awarded the hosting rights for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup to the People’s Republic of China beating the Philippines in the bid.
China and the Philippines were the two finalists bidding to host FIBA’s flagship event in 2019. The decision was taken by FIBA’s Central Board after both candidates submitted their bids and each gave presentations during the Host Announcement Ceremony.
Both countries each gave their final presentations in Japan, but it was China who ended up winning the bid.
The Central Board score was 14 - 7 votes in favor of China, making the People’s Republic of China to host the flagship event for the first time.
Filipinos‘ hearts were broken after the announcement. Basketball fans voiced their opinions on Twitter and other Social media networks.
It came down to Manny Pacquiao vs. Yao Ming as both men were in Tokyo for leading their countries in the event. China was led by Yao Ming and the Philippines with a bid led by Manny Pacquiao.
“I know what it’s like to play a top-level basketball tournament in front of home fans because I played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” Yao said in a statement on the FIBA Web site.
“Having the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup will inspire a lot of people and particularly more young athletes to participate in basketball.” the Chinese professional basketball player said.
After the lost of the basketball-crazy nation, Filipino delegation of top government officials, lawmakers, businessmen, sportsmen and a Hollywood celebrity leaves the venue in Tokyo with a broken heart on Friday, reports said.
“We have to pay tribute to the Philippines delegation. They were great opponents. Only opponents like them could really push us to our limits to test how capable we are. Even if we were opponents on this occasion, we still have a friendship with them,” Yao Ming said.
In 2019, China’s bid calls for the FIBA Basketball World Cup to be played in eight cities: Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan. The tournament will include 32 teams from around the world including seven teams from North and South America and a dozen teams from Europe, according to reports.
“We look forward to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which will be the first of a new era with 140 teams competing during a 15-month qualification period to be among the 32 playing in China,” Horacio Muratore, president of FIBA, said. IMAGE Screengrab FIBA YouTube account
