FIBA announces revised global basketball calendar

Mies (Switzerland), April 10 (IANS) World basketball governing body FIBA has announced an updated version of its global basketball calendar in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Based on the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the FIBA Executive Committee held a video conference and reached an agreement on a revised basketball calendar.

The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments will be played between June 22 and July 4, 2021, with exact dates pending approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 2021 FIBA EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup are rescheduled to the period between September 1 and 18, 2022.

The 2021 FIBA Afrobasket (August 24 to September 5) and 2021 FIBA Asia Cup (August 17 to 29) are put back by one and two weeks respectively, to avoid the calendar clash with the new dates for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 2021 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup will take place between June 20 and 27, 2021, prior to the Tokyo Olympics and on similar dates to the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021 (June 17 to 27).

The 2020 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in Bulgaria will now follow the same schedule as the 2020 FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Romania (August 15 to 23).

“I’m 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 two weeks from the IOC’s announcement of the new dates for the Olympic Games,” said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis.

“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.”

FIBA also said that its Executive Committee 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.

–IANS

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