Indonesia, Japan happy din

MANILA, Philippines — Hindi lamang ang Pilipinas ang nagdiwang sa pagbibigay ng FIBA Central Board ng hosting rights para sa 2023 World Cup.

Kapwa nangako ang Indonesia at Japan na gagawin ang lahat, kagaya ng Pilipinas, para sa matagumpay na pa-ngangasiwa sa nasabing world championships na huling idinaos noong 2014 sa Seville, Spain.

“We are very happy. It’s a good partnership with Philippines and Japan and we will deliver the best FIBA Basketball World Cup that we can do,” sabi ni Erick Thohir, ang pangulo ng Indonesian National Olympic Committee at miyembro ng FIBA Central Board sa panayam ng FIBA.

Bagama’t natalo sa Pilipinas, Japan at Indonesia sa consortium ay ang Argentina at Uruguay ang hahawak sa 2027 World Cup.

“I think, the most important thing is how we grow basketball throughout the world,” sabi ni Thohir. “Of course, Indonesia is one of the countries that we want to see become a major market in the future.”

Naniniwala din si Japanese Basketball Association president Yuko Mitsuya na matagumpay na maidaraos ng Okinawa ang preliminaries ng 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Ang Saitama, Japan ang nanguna sa pagdaraos ng nasabing showpiece event noong 2006.

“The basketball environment has changed a lot in Japan since the country hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2006. We now have the B-League, the professional basketball league, which has helped us be more dyna-mic,” wika ni Mitsuya.

Ayon pa kay Mitsuya, dapat laging bukas ang linya ng komunikasyon ng Pilipinas, Japan at Indonesia.