FIBA Europe, the European governing body for basketball, has joined seven other sports federations by becoming a partner of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) EU Office in Brussels. 

The EOC EU Office represents the EOC to European institutions, working with towards a European Sports policy. It also represents the interests of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at national, European and international level. 

“I am extremely pleased to welcome the prestigious organisation of FIBA Europe as our latest partner. When we established the EOC EU Office, it was organisations such as FIBA Europe that we wanted to target in order to build a strong network of Olympic Movement sports’ organisations to partner with the EU’s institutions,” said EOC President Patrick Hickey. 

“The European Union brings a number of challenges as well as opportunities for the field of sport. The EOC EU Office is our answer to facing these challenges and to taking full advantage of these opportunities. With basketball being one of the major team sports in Europe, I am sure that this partnership will be of mutual benefit to FIBA Europe and to the EOC in many EU policy areas, but also beyond the EU institutions.” 

FIBA Europe is the sixth European Federation to partner with the EOC EU Office, following European Athletics, European Aquatics, the European Handball Federation, the European Volleyball Confederation and Rugby Europe. The EOC EU Office has also partnered with two International Federations: FIFA and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). 

"At FIBA Europe, we are always looking to build partnerships with institutions that share our commitment to sport and the positive impact it has on young people and our societies,” said FIBA Europe President Turgay Demirel.

“The EOC EU Office is one such institution. Basketball is one of Europe's leading sports, and this relationship will allow us to work more effectively towards our goal of strengthening the game in each of our member countries and beyond."

Basketball has been featured in every edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival, dating back to the inaugural games in 1991. 

 “FIBA Europe’s commitment to the European Olympic family grew last summer in Baku when our exciting new format, 3x3, proved to be one of the biggest hits with fans at the inaugural European Games,” said FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak.

“Now, becoming a partner of the EOC EU Office is the next logical step in our mutually beneficial relationship.”

A full list of the EOC EU Office’s partners can be found at http://www.euoffice.eurolympic.org/partners

The world governing body for basketball announced on its YouTube channel on Friday that China will host the 2019 FIBA World Cup, after the country’s bid leader said basketball could become the world’s most popular sport. 

China’s bid was selected ahead of a rival proposal from The Philippines. 

The 2019 FIBA World Cup will incorporate more host cities than ever, FIBA said, with Beijing, Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Wuhan all set to host games. 

Beijing will host all games from the quarter finals to the final, in addition to some group games.

New venues will be built in Foshan and Suzhou to accommodate the tournament. 

The decision will enable FIBA to build on a strong presence for the sport in China. 

"At least 300 million people play basketball in China and if we host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, we can increase that participation,” said Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing and Chairman of the China 2019 bid committee.

“China is the most populous country in the world and we can make basketball the most popular sport in the world. We believe that we can make the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup a complete success because of China's economic stability, strong financial guarantee and the government's complete support. We can make it a safe, most reliable and risk-free event."

Basketball is already the most popular sport in The Philippines, according to Manuel V Pangilinan, President of the Philippines Basketball Association.

"Ninety percent of the population play, watch or follow the sport in one way or another,” he said. “It's not just Filipinos in the Philippines that are passionate about the sport. It's Filipinos all over the world. Football may be number one in many places around the world, but basketball is number one in the Philippines."

Manny Pacquiao, Philippines Congressman and eight-time world boxing champion said "I am a boxer but I am here because I love basketball so that tells you the passion that Filipinos have for basketball. If we host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, we can show that passion to the world."

Asked to compare enthusiasm for the sport between the two countries, Chinese basketball star Yao Ming said "You can't say that one type of love is better than the other. Both are great. Both countries have a great passion for basketball, particularly for FIBA basketball."

Gao Zhidan, Vice-President of the Chinese Olympic Committee said: "Basketball is very popular in China and if we host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, we can foresee a great rise in that popularity. This will have a great impact on the professional league (CBA) as well as the university league which is developing very fast. It will help with our aim to train more athletes and get a bigger pool of talented players."

Edmonton, the Canadian city bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games is looking forward to hosting a much smaller event in 2015 – the FIBA Americas Women's Championships, because it fits with its strategy of attracting events that the community is interested in.

“We are very excited to be hosting the FIBA Americas Women's Championships in August 2015,” Candice Stasynec, executive director of Edmonton Events told HOST CITY. 

“In our event strategy we have identified specific events and activities that make sense for our community. It is gratifying to see the strategy coming to life.”

Basketball has been targeted as a key sport for the city. “What is so satisfying about winning this event is that is part of our larger strategy of further developing Edmonton as a centre of excellence in basketball and the home of basketball in Canada,” she said.

“The Canadian Senior Women's National Basketball Team calls Edmonton home now. We are hoping to attract all the national teams to do the same.”

The reach of the event is boosted by the fact that the tournament will also serve as the qualifiers for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

“Our Canadian women’s national basketball team now has the opportunity to compete for an Olympic berth with a home-court advantage,” said Michele O’Keefe, Executive Director of Canada Basketball. “Hosting is a strategic priority for Canada Basketball and this Championship is a great step forward.”

Choosing the right event for cities to bid for is a key theme of HOST CITY’s Bid to Win conference in London on 28th October, which provides a unique dialogue between rights holders and cities.

Bal Gosal, Minister of State for Sport said “Hosting international sport events such as the FIBA Americas Championship for Women provides an opportunity for our athletes to achieve their podium goals in front of enthusiastic Canadian crowds and gives a great boost to the local economy.”

The Championships take place on 9-16 August 2015 with 10 teams from the Americas zone competing in the eight-day tournament. All 24 games are being played at the Saville Community Sports Centre (SCSC) at the University of Alberta’s South Campus in Edmonton.

The showpiece conclusion to the men’s tournament will be staged at the multi-purpose Lille Arena, which will have a capacity of 27,000 for the EuroBasket.

For the first time, the group phase of the competition will be shared between four countries, with Zagreb (Croatia), Berlin (Germany) and Riga (Latvia) joining Montpellier in France as host cities.

“This is an important moment in the history of European basketball, as we have voted not only for the hosts of next year's event but also on pioneering a new concept, with four hosts,” Fiba Europe president Turgay Demirel said. “All bids were of the highest quality and it was not easy to choose between them. I would like to thank all bidders for their commitment and their excellent preparation work, coming up to the vote.”

A total of 16 national bodies expressed an interest in hosting the tournament, leading to eight formal bids. Finland, Israel, Poland and Turkey were the countries to miss out in the bidding process. Croatia, France and Turkey tabled bids to host one of the four group phase pools and the final phase knock-out round, while Turkey bid to organise the final phase only. All other bids were solely for pool-phase hosting.

France was left as the only candidate to host the final phase after Turkey shelved its bid and Poland and Croatia withdrew their pitches for the showpiece stage before the Fiba Europe board met to finalise hosting arrangements.

EuroBasket 2015 was originally slated to take place in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv, Odessa, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk before the ongoing political unrest in the eastern European country persuaded Fiba Europe into a June re-think. After removing the tournament from Ukraine, Fiba Europe said it would seek to determine whether the country could host the 2017 edition of the biennial event.

EuroBasket 2015 will take place from September 5-20 next year and the tournament will serve as a qualifying competition for the Rio 2016 summer Olympic Games.