Philippines, 5 others in FIBA bid

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and five European countries are left in the running to host the three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) slated July 4-10 next year.

The International Basketball Federation has officially announced the Philippines, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Serbia and Turkey are the countries that submitted official bid to host the Olympic wildcard play.

Dropping out of the race are Greece, Iran, Israel and Mexico.

As the only non-European bidding country, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is optimistic the Philippines would be awarded hosting rights.

SBP officials believe they can very well satisfy the evaluation criteria set by the FIBA.

To determine the hosts, the FIBA will take into consideration the “players welfare, stakeholder experience, facilities and infrastructure, legacy and commercial model.”

For the Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, France and Spain are the two countries in contention to be the host of the 12-team event slated June 13-19.

With a big number of host candidates, the FIBA moved to January the decision on the winning bidders and on the draw.

“In order to properly assess each candidature, the evaluation period has been extended,” the FIBA stated in a communiqué to the cage federations.

The SBP hopes to bring over one of the qualifiers in the country as the local cage body is determined to have a fighting chance at a return stint in the quadrennial games.

Coach Tab Baldwin and his 17-man pool from the PBA have started their once-a-week training Monday.

Earning berths in the wildcard competition are France, Serbia, Greece, Italy and Czech Republic from Europe, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico from America, Angola, Tunisia and Senegal from Africa, New Zealand from Oceania and the Philippines, Iran and Japan from Asia.

The Philippines has never made the Olympics since 1972 in Munich.