World basketball comes home to where it belongs

GENEVA, Switzerland — It was a dream that began two years ago and for SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan, the mission was to bring basketball home to the Philippines where the game is a passion for millions of Filipinos. 

The journey to take the FIBA World Cup to the Philippines was far from a smooth ride.  Pangilinan’s first shot was to stage the 2019 edition in Manila. Two years ago, the Philippines and China were picked as the last two bidders standing in the battle to host the tournament. The showdown came to a head in Tokyo where both countries presented their case to the FIBA Central Board. The Philippine presentation was exceptional with Fil-Am actor Lou Diamond Phillips headlining an all-star cast in a convincing display of love for the game. But the FIBA Central Board voted for China, 14-7, because of its vast resources and infrastructure. China offered eight venues in eight cities to stage the games involving 32 nations and that was the clinching argument.

Pangilinan wasn’t dismayed by the turn of events and vowed to make an even more determined effort to win the bid for the next World Cup in 2023. He harnessed the talents of media giants TLA Worldwide of Australia, DDB of New York City, ESPN and TV5 of Manila to produce a bid that wouldn’t be denied a second time. “It will be the single priceless legacy I could leave Philippine basketball,” said Pangilinan as he embarked on a renewed campaign to win the bid.

What made the Philippines’ second bid remarkable was Pangilinan’s idea of gathering three countries with a combined population of 500 million to welcome the FIBA World Cup. He brought the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia together in a show of force that negated the notion of duplicity since Asia would also host in 2019. Coordinating a unified bid was a challenge but SBP executive director Sonny Barrios managed to create a chemistry that had never before been a trademark of a FIBA World Cup bid.  Argentina and Uruguay launched a similar multi-nation bid to wind up a finalist but the Philippine-led consortium had a far more persuasive appeal. 

SBP president Al Panlilio said, “It didn’t matter that Asia would once again host the World Cup after 2019 in China … what was on FIBA’s mind was how to grow the game globally and there are many more markets to tap in Asia.” 

Pangilinan led the Philippine delegation for the bid awarding ceremony at the FIBA head office in Mies, a town near this Swiss city, last weekend.  Others in the delegation were Deputy Speaker Rep. Pia Cayetano, PLDT head of business transformation and First Pacific assistant director Ricky Vargas, Panlilio, TV5 CEO and Gilas head coach Chot Reyes, Barrios, TV5 Sports head Patricia Bermudez-Hizon, DDB Philippines group managing director John Lucas, Dr. Raffy Bejar, Pangilinan’s executive assistant Abet Dungo and Cayetano’s assistant Che Reginaldo.

While in Mies, the Philippine delegation was shown works of Filipino art in FIBA’s treasure trove by historical collections associate Luis Gonzalez. A painting entitled “One On One” by Manny Garibay was a prized item. Garibay took second place with the piece in a FIBA art contest held in Madrid in 2000.  It is now worth millions, according to Garibay himself.  Another Filipino artist, Ramon Orlina, won the grand prize in the sculpture category in the same competition. 

Gonzalez said in a FIBA photography contest this year, 60 percent of the 800 entries came from the Philippines and three made it to the top 10, including a shot showing six Filipinos playing outdoors under the rain in hip-high floodwaters with the caption “For the love of the game despite the odds.”  During the visit, the Philippine delegation donated several books on Philippine basketball to the FIBA Pedro Ferrandiz library that Gonzalez manages.

Before the FIBA Central Board deliberated on the bids, both finalists made their last pitch in separate 20-minute presentations. The consortium’s delivery got off to a rousing start with an ESPN introduction featuring popular TV host Rachel Nichols. Then Pangilinan spoke, followed by Indonesian Basketball Association (IBA) secretary-general and member of the House of Representatives Budi Satrio Djiwandono, Cayetano; Japan Basketball Association (JBA) deputy secretary-general Mitsuhiro Hirota filling in for Okinawa City Mayor Sachio Kuwae; IBA chairman Erick Thohir, JBA president Yuko Mitsuya and Panlilio. 

Pangilinan closed the presentation with this message:  “Our approach represents the future of sports — a collaborative, shared hosting model, unlocking more value for FIBA and bringing our quadrennial event to more countries than ever before.  Our deep love for basketball, our passion for the sport, is unequaled anywhere in the world. Basketball flows through our blood, pulses through our veins and animates our hearts. Basketball is what defines us. It is what unites us. We will play louder than ever.”

As Pangilinan spoke, the loudness of his message was resounding as it was reported that the hashtag #PlayLouderIn2023 — the consortium’s battle cry in the bid war — had reached over 1.3 billion impressions on Twitter. The social media attention given to the Philippines’ bid to bring basketball home was phenomenal.

After the presentations, FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann called Pangilinan and Argentina Basketball Association president Federico Susbielles to a private meeting. It was then that Susbielles advised Baumann of the withdrawal of Argentina and Uruguay from the bid. That left the door open for a unanimous vote to award the hosting rights to the Philippine-led consortium.

FIBA president Horacio Muratore of Argentina presided in the formal awarding ceremony where he brought out the envelope to reveal the winning bid.  Celebration broke out among the consortium’s ranks.  It was the culmination of a long journey that made Pangilinan’s dream come true. “Happy for our people,” he said. “You should have seen how pleased the FIBA Central Board was to award the bid to us and to feel their very warm response to our bid team — hugs, handshakes, smiles, pats on the back, words of encouragement all around… I was extremely proud to be Filipino at that moment.”

Pangilinan then got on the phone to share the news with President Duterte. “I thanked the President and mentioned that I had used his name in pushing our bid during our presentation,” he said. “The President told me, ‘No problem, since it’s for our country. Government support is necessary for us to organize and stage a successful World Cup.’”

It’s official: World basketball is coming home to the Philippines in 2023.