…. FIBA makes calendar changes
THE Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) tournament, of which Guyana are the defending champions, is likely to be held in 2021, just before the Olympic Games, following a video conference meeting yesterday with FIBA’s Executive Committee, following which, several changes were made.
The most recent Central Board meeting, which occurred on March 13, confirmed the suspension of all FIBA competitions and also delegated the FIBA Executive Committee to make any necessary adjustments to the FIBA Calendar initially approved by the Central Board in 2015, following the change of dates to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
FIBA welcomed last week the confirmation of the revised dates for Tokyo 2020, July 23 – August 8, 2021, and thanked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its collaborative and timely resolution to this complex situation.
After careful analysis of the possible scenarios and following the recommendations of the Regional Offices and of the Competitions Commission, the FIBA Executive Committee pointed out that the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will be played in the period between June 22 and July 4, 2021 (exact dates pending IOC approval).
The FIBA EuroBasket 2021 and the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 are rescheduled to the period between September 1 and 18, 2022.
In order to limit workload for players and maximise the opportunities within the calendar, national teams participating in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers will play the two games originally scheduled for September 2022 at the end of August 2022, during the preparation phase of the FIBA EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup.
All other remaining dates of Qualifiers for the Continental Cups 2021 and for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 remain unchanged.
The FIBA Afrobasket 2021 (August 24 – September 5) and the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 (August 17-29) are rescheduled by one and two weeks respectively, in August 2021, to avoid the calendar clash with the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021 is rescheduled to June 20-27, 2021, prior to the Tokyo Olympic Games and on similar dates as the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021 (June 17-27 2021).
The four Women’s Continental Cups will qualify a total of 16 teams that will compete in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments in February 2022.
The dates of all other FIBA Senior Tournaments at world and continental level, as well as their Qualifiers, for the period 2020-2023 remain without change.
The FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup 2020 in Bulgaria has been rescheduled to the same dates as the FIBA U=17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2020 in Romania (August 15-23). A final decision on these tournaments will be made in mid-May depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said that he was “very pleased that, in a very challenging period, FIBA has been able to conduct an internal consultation process so fast and confirm an updated calendar for our senior tournaments within almost 2 weeks from the IOC’s announcement of the new dates for the Olympic Games.
The President and I are grateful to our National Federations, our Zones and all other stakeholders for their swift collaboration.”
“The outcome is a calendar of FIBA major events which remains very attractive for our fans, with a balanced distribution of top events, keeping always in mind the welfare and availability of players. I am looking forward to the day when the basketball community will be able to get back on the court.”
FIBA’s Executive Committee noted that they will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation on a daily basis and evaluate the options for the lifting of the suspension of FIBA competitions when the situation allows for it.
