Manila to host FIBA draw, Congress

FOSHAN – It won’t only be 16 teams in the first and second rounds, eight teams in the quarterfinals, four teams in the semifinals and two teams in the final that Manila will host in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Local Organizing Committee (LOC) head of operations Cito Martelino said the other day Manila will also stage the draw six months before the World Cup. Another event that Manila will hold is the FIBA Congress that takes place two days before the start of the first round of competition. The Congress will elect the new FIBA president, officers and members of the Central Board to serve the 2023-2027 term.

In Beijing, Hamane Niang of Mali was voted unanimously as new FIBA president to succeed Argentina’s Horacio Muratore. Delegates from 156 national federations attended the Congress. Effectivity of Niang’s term begins at the end of the World Cup. The newly-formed Central Board will meet on Sept. 14 in Beijing, the day before the World Cup final. Expected to attend are SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan and SBP president Al Panlilio.

Martelino said in the first round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Okinawa will host two groups of four teams each, Jakarta two groups of four teams each and Manila four groups of four teams each. Okinawa and Jakarta will use one venue while Manila will use the Smart Araneta Coliseum and MOA Arena. The two survivors from Okinawa and two survivors from Jakarta will join the four survivors from Manila in the eight-team quarterfinals in Manila. The Philippine Arena will be the venue for the final.

Martelino said the first round will be on Sept. 1-6, the second round on Sept. 7-10 in all three host countries. Sept. 11 will be a rest day to allow the two survivors from Jakarta and two survivors from Okinawa to fly to Manila for the knockout quarterfinals which will be on Sept. 12-13. Sept. 14 will be for two games pitting the four quarterfinal losers. The semifinals will be on Sept. 15. The playoffs for No. 5 and No. 7 will be on Sept. 16. The playoff for third place and the final will be on Sept. 17. Martelino said the schedule is in the plan but may still change.

“Teams will play every other day so there will be rest days, keeping in mind that each of our two venues will have eight teams for a total of 16 in the first round,” said Martelino. “It’s unlike in China where eight cities hosted the first round.” 

In November, Manila will host the second alignment meeting involving the three host countries and FIBA. Last February, the first alignment meeting was hosted by Jakarta. The third alignment meeting will be in Tokyo during the first quarter of next year before the Olympics.

The SBP officers in charge of organizing the 2023 FIBA World Cup will be in Beijing to observe the quarterfinals, semifinals and final up to Sept. 15. They will be joined by six representatives from the Philippine Arena and three from the MOA Arena. Six representatives from the Smart Araneta Coliseum were here earlier to observe the operations of the first round.

Overseeing the 2023 FIBA World Cup is a “master” Joint Management Committee composed of Panlilio, LOC Joint Management Committee (JMC) head John Lucas and one representative each from Japan, Indonesia and FIBA. FIBA director general of media and marketing services Frank Leenders of the Netherlands is the FIBA point man for the JMC. FIBA is represented in the LOC JMCs of each host country.

Observing the dynamics of staging the World Cup will go a long way in preparing for the next edition. “We’re getting a lot of takeaways from this trip,” said Martelino who was in Beijing for the FIBA Congress and World Cup opening ceremonies before going to Foshan for the first round then back to Beijing for the second round until the final. “We’re studying access by media to players, access of players from drop-off point to locker room to court, traffic flow and many more. We hope to make the next World Cup not just a successful tournament but also an unforgettable experience for the players, coaches, officials and fans. We will definitely play it louder in 2023.”