Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Finland complete FIBA World Cup cast

MANILA, Philippines – FIBA’s Central Board finally announced the four wildcards on Saturday night (Manila Time) that completed the 24-nation cast in the FIBA World Cup later this year.

Basketball powerhouses Brazil, Greece, Turkey and longshot Finland joined qualifiers defending champion USA, host Spain, Argentina, Angola, Australia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Asia’s Iran, Philippines (Gilas Pilipinas) and Korea.

Long-time FIBA World Cup participant China, which finished fifth in the last FIBA Asia qualifiers, reportedly withdrew its wildcard bid.

"Since 2006, 11 of the 12 teams that have been granted wild cards were always inside the top 24 of the FIBA Ranking Men," said FIBA Secretary-General Patrick Baumann during the announcement. "This proves that FIBA's Central Board is determined to make the FIBA Basketball World Cup as competitive as possible.”

Brazil (no. 10), Greece (no. 5) and Turkey (no.7) are all ranked inside the world’s top 10 with the 39^th ranked Finland getting the nod after an impressive run in the last Eurobasket where they beat four teams from the top 15 to end up at ninth.

Brazil made it to the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics while Turkey grabbed the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Cup. Greece, meanwhile, is a regular fixture in international competitions and was the silver medalist in the 2006 edition of the FIBA World Cup in Japan. It was the first time that they asked for a wildcard berth according to Baumann.

The draw that will determine the bracket of the 24 teams will be held on Feb. 3.

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes, team manager Aboy Castro and logistics director Andrew Teh together with The Star columnist Quinito Henson are already in Spain to galvanize the support of the Filipino community there.

Henson noted in his Facebook and Instagram account that 500 Filipinos all over Spain have confirmed to attend the draw.