Turkey beats Australia to nab rights to host FIBA Women World Basketball Championship, 2014
A year after hosting a vibrant and successful edition of FIBA World Basketball Championship for men, Turkey has landed yet another big shot tournament on their courts. On Sunday, the governing body of international basketball announced that Turkey will host
the World Basketball Championship for women after they outwitted Australia 16-4 in the final round of voting. The latest Championship will be gracing the shores of Istanbul in 2014.
The decision was made after a meeting of 23-member FIBA’s Central Board in Lyon, France. FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann praised the bids from both the countries, but at the same time, refrained from going into the details of the voting pattern.
“We had two outstanding bids, with both countries doing an amazing job of giving the board very good reasons to believe they were very capable of hosting the event and having it be a great success,” said FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann. “The quality
of the two bids is testament to the growth of women’s basketball.”
Turkey and Australia, two countries that boast of a great basketball legacy, were the only ones to bid for the quadrennial tournament before the February 16 deadline this year. Australia had based its bid around the city of Melbourne. Australia last hosted
the women championship in 1994, an event which they won in 2006. However, in the final days before the announcement, Turkey is believed to have made a frantic run to grasp the hosting rights.
Unlike the men’s championship which took place in four cities of Turkey, the 16- nation tournament will take place in various centres in the city of Istanbul. The group stages of the tournament will be held in the Darüşşafaka Ayhan Şahenk Sports Hall and
the Fenerbahçe Ülker Arena. The arena for the final game has not been announced as yet.
The decision of FIBA to award Turkey the championship also has a historical significance as Turkey has become only the first country in the last 15 years to host both the men’s and women’s World Basketball Championships. This also bodes well for the future
of the women’s game in the country. Last year in the men’s version of the tourney, the Turkish national team reached unprecedented heights and finished second only to the power-house of the game, the United States of America.
Turgay Demirel, the chairman of the Turkish Basketball Federation, who led the Turkish contingent, said it was a big achievement to win a bid over such a strong candidate.
“A great majority of the FIBA Central Board supported us with the belief that we will put on a very successful organization just like we did in the 2010 FIBA Men’s World Championship,” Turgay Demirel said in a statement to the federation’s website.
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