Philippines, China dispute hosting rights

MANILA, Philippines - China is pulling out all the stops in making a strong push to host the FIBA World Cup in 2019, anchoring its bid on the slogan “More Than Ever,” laying down an attractive menu of potential investment partners and offering eight stadiums in different cities as a “gateway for the globalization of basketball.”

The FIBA Central Board will meet in Tokyo on Aug. 7 to designate either China or the Philippines as host of the next World Cup. The bidding countries will make a 20-minute audio-visual presentation before the Board from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Prince Park Tower Hotel then key officials of the Filipino and Chinese delegations will be invited to a question-and-answer, closed door session from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Board will then vote on its choice and announce the host country by 6:45 p.m.

SBP executive director Sonny Barrios said China and the Philippines are allowed to bring in up to 30 persons to attend the audio-visual presentations in the staging area. If there are more than 30, the spillage will be accommodated outside the presentation room. The audio-visuals will support the oral delivery of the presenters. Expected to speak for the Philippines are TV5 sports head Chot Reyes and Gilas assistant coach Jimmy Alapag.

SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan will head the panel in the question-and-answer session. He will be joined by Barrios and SBP deputy executive director Butch Antonio. The question-and-answer session will delve on operational matters and logistical arrangements.

“We realize China’s big advantage is infrastructure,” said Barrios. “We understand they plan to offer eight different stadiums for the preliminary stage even as FIBA requires only a minimum of four. But we are confident that our position as a country where basketball is the No. 1 sport, our passion for the game, our mobilization of public and private sector support, our hospitality as a people and our ability to organize major events will be more than enough to clinch the hosting rights. We offer an experience that the world’s greatest players will never forget.”

At the 2019 FIBA World Cup, there will be 32 participating countries split into eight groups of four teams each in the preliminaries. China is offering to stage the preliminaries in eight cities, namely, Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Foshan and Dongguan. China has promised packed stadiums and passionate crowds.

Last May, FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann visited Beijing to confer with sports authorities on the bid. He met with Vice Prime Minister Liu Yandong, Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) president and General Administration of Sports of China (GASC) director general Liu Peng, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun and COC vice president, GASC deputy director general and Chinese Basketball Association president Xian Tian. It was Xian, a FIBA vice president, who said China will be ready to deliver the biggest ever World Cup. “We will provide both a platform with millions of basketball crazed fans and cities large with experience in hosting major events that bring solid logistics support, opening a gateway for the globalization of basketball,” he said.

A month later, Xian was reported to be under investigation by the Chinese government’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “serious breach of discipline and the law” in relation to his work as one of China’s deputy sports ministers. The suspicion stemmed from allegations of match-fixing, talent selection and anomalous operation of events. Xian was China’s deputy chef de mission at the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The website Australasian Leisure Management reported Xian’s arrest but this was not confirmed. Beijing is bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and spokesperson Wang Hui said Xian’s situation has no bearing on the merits of the bid. Whether Xian’s predicament will affect China’s bid to host the 2019 FIBA World Cup, considering his position as FIBA vice president, is not clear.

With two weeks left before the D-Day (Decision Day), there is speculation that a co-hosting arrangement may be suggested as an option. South Korea and Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup. And this year’s FIBA EuroBasket will be co-hosted by Germany, Croatia, Latvia and France in the group stage. It would be a diplomatic coup if China and the Philippines could co-host considering the tension between the countries in relation to claims of sovereignty over disputed waters.

But neither China nor the Philippines is entertaining any notions of a co-hosting arrangement. The countries are expected to bring their strongest arguments on the table in Tokyo. In 17 stagings of the FIBA World Cup, previously known as the FIBA World Championships, Asia has hosted only twice – in Manila in 1978 and in Saitama, Japan, in 2006. Europe hosted the last two World Cups in Turkey in 2010 and in Spain last year. Three countries have hosted twice – Argentina in 1950 and 1990, Brazil in 1954 and 1963 and Spain in 1986 and 2014.

China is hosting the FIBA Asia Championships this year, its third staging in the last four and fifth in the last eight since 2001. Shanghai was the site in 2001, Harbin in 2003, Tianjin in 2009 and Wuhan in 2011. Changsha will host on Sept. 23-Oct. 3. China has won 15 of the last 20 FIBA Asia titles since 1975. The Philippines has hosted the zonal competition only thrice – in 1960, 1973 and 2013.