How the bid was lost

TOKYO, Japan — The premise was FIBA would recognize the Philippines’ unbridled love for basketball and transcend the paradigm of tradition to award the hosting rights of the 2019 FIBA World Cup to the country with more heart, not necessarily more resources. And so the Philippines went head to head against China in a battle of David and Goliath, hoping and praying that FIBA would bless the bidder with an authentic, uncontrived passion for the game.

SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan was behind the Philippines’ bold bid to pull the rug from under China, the heavy favorite to claim the majority of the FIBA Central Board’s votes. It was a year ago when the Philippines signified interest to host the World Cup.  Germany, France, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Venezuela, Turkey, Qatar and China also threw their hat in the derby.

After Europe hosted the last two World Cups, FIBA decided to bring it back to Asia. In 17 previous stagings, Asia has hosted only twice — in Manila in 1978 and Saitama in 2006.  China and the Philippines were picked as the finalists for the 2019 event. Initially, FIBA scheduled the showdown of presentations in Geneva in June.  It was reset to Tokyo in August. FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann, who was in Kuala Lumpur to head the Lausanne bid to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics a week before, said moving it from Geneva to Tokyo would be more convenient for delegations from China and the Philippines to attend with less travel mileage.

FIBA instructed both bidders to submit their candidature files months before D-Day. China and the Philippines were required to detail what they had in mind in staging the World Cup with the minimum bid at eight million euros or the equivalent of about P470 million. With the paperwork signed, sealed and delivered, the next step was to show up in Tokyo. FIBA arranged for live streaming of the so-called bidding event where both countries made audio-visual presentations from 4 to 5 p.m. to justify their tenders last Aug. 7.  After the presentations, each country was represented by a panel that was subjected to a question-and-answer grilling by the board.  By 6:30 p.m., FIBA promised a decision.

Realizing China would flaunt its economic wealth and influence in its audio-visual, the Philippines attempted to take the fight to a higher level. Pangilinan himself set the tone of the presentation with his opening remarks. The idea was to appeal to the board’s heart by conjuring a vision of delivering a flawless World Cup with the unique attraction of assembling the greatest, most connected basketball fans on the planet in an unmanufactured environment.  Moreover, the Philippine bid had a social component by focusing on youth engagement.

To deliver the Philippines’ message, Pangilinan assembled a team made up of TV5 sports head Chot Reyes, former Gilas skipper and Fil-Am celebrity Lou Diamond Phillips. The presentation was a knockout and if only production was the basis of deciding the bid, the Philippines would’ve won hands down.

As expected, China’s audio-visual was all about brass tacks.  With a bigger 32-nation World Cup ahead, China developed the theme “More Than Ever,” which highlighted the country’s vast resources and a population of 1.3 billion.  The presentation was a statement of capability based on global connections and modern transportation.  China promised to employ eight venues in different cities with each location boasting a capacity of 100,000 five-star hotel rooms.  The Philippines could offer only two acceptable venues with a third to be renovated and a fourth to be constructed.    

When the board took the battle to the ground and out of the air, the die was cast.  There was no way the Philippines could even come close to China’s bid.  The Philippines bid 12 million euros and added another two million euros as a performance bond, all guaranteed by Deutsche Bank. China’s bid was at least thrice more and the estimate was between 32 and 35 million euros.  The contrast in infrastructure development was just as one-sided.

The decision didn’t come at 6:30 p.m. as first announced.  It was delayed to 7 p.m. then pushed up to 7:15 p.m.  The two postponements meant prolonged deliberations before the vote. The final count, however, wasn’t close.

China won, 14-7. 

“I accept our defeat,” said Pangilinan. “We can’t change the decision, let’s just move on.” He said that hopefully, the Philippines’ show of sportsmanship and spirit would cement a long-term relationship with FIBA.  Phillips said there was nothing to be ashamed of because the Philippines fought a good fight.  He agreed to pitch for the Philippines without charging a professional fee and did it to support his mother’s homeland.  Alapag said “FIBA got an even clearer picture of the love and passion we have for the game … in due time, we’ll get there.”

Reyes said there were many positives that the Philippines gained throughout the bid process. “The rallying behind the team, trending No. 1 worldwide, beating out at least five first-world countries just to get this far,” he said. “But the biggest victory really is for the country and Philippine basketball.  Our FIBA-Asia hosting (in 2013) and our World Cup stint (in Spain last year) and this bid have entrenched ‘puso’ firmly in world basketball.”

While the Philippines’ bid was outward-looking with the world’s social media capital seeking to broadcast the excitement of the game globally, China was inward-looking and pointed to its 600,000 basketball courts and the 200 million fans who watched the local league finals on TV as the base market for the World Cup. 

David had only a slim chance to slay Goliath from the onset as no slingshot could propel a stone close to the target. But this was an instance where the outcome couldn’t totally overshadow the process. Because of its courageous stand, David won the admiration and respect of the FIBA Central Board.  The Philippines won’t host the 2019 World Cup but in the bigger picture, there was victory in defeat.