There’s an ongoing contest conducted by FIBA in relation to the coming World Cup in Spain and the Philippines is leading the pack in terms of most accumulated points from home fans associating their facebook, twitter and instagram accounts with the hashtag #Spain2014.
The contest is actually a promotional digital campaign for fans to express support for their country at the FIBA World Cup. It’s focused on finding the Most Valuable Fan (MVF) who will be rewarded with a weekend in Madrid for two to attend the playoff for third place on Sept. 13 and the championship game on Sept. 14. The prize will include round-trip travel and a double-room accommodation in a hotel selected by FIBA. The tickets for the third place playoff are marked Category A (valued at the equivalent of P9,300 each) while the tickets for the final are in the special courtside section (valued at the equivalent of P12,000 each) with a dedicated seat for the MVF winner. An MVF trophy will be awarded to the winner during the final.
Before determining the MVF winner, FIBA will contact the participant who has collected the highest number of points and ensure that he or she will abide by FIBA’s requirements of traveling to Madrid. If the participant refuses the award, FIBA will select the next individual with the highest number of points.
The contest is open to anyone who is 13 or above. Participants are required to register on the FIBA landing page on www.fiba.com/spain2014/mvf <http://www.fiba.com/spain2014/mvf> and on https://apps.facebook.com/mvfspain/. They must submit their full name, a valid e-mail address and password. Users may register directly with their facebook account to pair with their MVF account and may also add their twitter and instagram accounts to collect more points. MVF points are earned by completing a range of actions and playing specific games on the MVF Challenge.
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Aside from the overall MVF contest, there are monthly rounds where the top three participants will be given prizes. For the first month of the MVF round, a Filipino Raymond Mistica won with 20,521 points. The second placer was Angel from the Dominican Republic with 20,050 points. According to FIBA, the prize for Mistica is a Grundig tablet model GTB 1011. FIBA said if the prize is not available in a country where the winner comes from, it will assign an alternative of similar value.
The MVF contest was launched last May 8 and will end on Aug. 14, exactly one month before the World Cup final. All points earned by fans supporting a national team will be accumulated to determine the winner of the MVF Best Country Award. The Best Country contest will go until until Sept. 4, the end of the preliminary round. The national federation of the winning country will be awarded and recognized at the FIBA Hall of Fame in Alcobendas, Madrid. So if the Philippines wins, the SBP will be cited in the FIBA Hall of Fame – surely, a distinct honor.
In the first tally of the Best Country standings released last May 14, Finland was No. 1 with 1.81 million points and the Philippines was second with 1.67 million. Spain was third with 1.66 million. Fourth was Argentina and fifth was Australia. In the next tally released last June 6, the Philippines was firmly in No. 1 with 3.73 million points. Spain moved up to second with 2.47 million and Finland slid to third with 2.41. Lithuania took No. 4 with 1.87 million and Argentina dropped to fifth with 1.77 million.
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“The MVF objective is to mobilize all national team fans all the way to the World Cup by hooking and pushing them to participate in various games on social media where fans will be able to compete not just against each other but also to join their compatriots to compete in a contest between countries,” said FIBA communications assistant Jalinka Michaux.
“They will create a national team fan community. It will be a lot about national pride. Each one of the 24 national teams participating in the World Cup will proudly be represented by a unique basketball character wearing his country’s colors that will grow in size according to how much the participating fans contribute to the challenge. Playing is simple. By taking part in MVF and playing games on fiba.com/spain2014/mvf and facebook.com/FIBA, participants can win great prizes and be in the running to land the ultimate reward, a VIP trip for two to Madrid to watch the final from a special MVF courtside seat and taking home an MVF trophy. Also, remember that all points earned by fans that support the same national team will be accumulated to determine the MVF Best Country Award.”
Here’s a chance for the Philippines to win the FIBA world championship as the Most Valuable Country. Let’s show the world that Filipinos are the most passionate basketball fans on the planet. Let’s keep the Philippines at No. 1 in the FIBA MVF standings and gain recognition for the country at the FIBA Hall of Fame.