SBP eyes WC venues in Jakarta, Okinawa

MANILA, Philippines — Playing venues in Quezon City, Pasay, Pasig, Bocaue, Jakarta and Okinawa were the proposed sites in the 2023 FIBA World Cup multiple host countries bid of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and its counterpart federations in Indonesia and Japan.

SBP is obviously presenting the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the MOA Arena, PhilSports Arena and the Philippine Arena in their hosting bid pitted against the single host nation bids of Russia and Turkey, and the similar multiple host countries offer of Argentina and Uruguay.

All candidates have beaten the deadline for submission of Candidature Files on Aug. 31, and the Philippines/Indonesia/Japan candidacy has just been posted on the FIBA website.

The Filipinos, the Indons and the Japanese are banking heavily on their fast-growing region – home to more than 500 million people – to win the hosting rights for the next FIBA World Cup.

In 2019, the FIBA flagship event is to be played in China.

The Asian candidate says the region is a part of the world where basketball has the chance to become the sport of choice for so many people, mentioning the popularity of the sport in the Philippines.

“We want to work with FIBA to get more people playing basketball in more places more often and our countries and our region provide FIBA with a great place in which to make this a reality with the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 the perfect way to make this happen,” the candidate says.

“We think our bid will be very good for the game in our respective countries but, just as valuable, will be what playing the tournament in our region does for basketball globally.”

What are the benefits in their multiple host bid?

“Obviously, there is the opportunity to take world basketball’s flagship event into three vibrant, powerful and growing markets for the game, something all of us are excited about given the potential it creates to build more momentum for the sport in these countries,” the Asia candidate says.

 “More than this though, this is a wonderful opportunity for FIBA and basketball to be a truly global leader in sport. FIBA has had the vision to reimagine the way in which major sports events can be delivered by allowing more countries to dream of hosting elements of these global events, to have more countries aspire to host and to bring more countries together by working together to host is a terrific step for FIBA to adopt.

“Our countries want to bring FIBA’s vision to life and show that basketball can be a global sports leader in this way. That is a really exciting part of this bid.”