MIES, Switzerland (November 15, 2019) – FIBA announced today that Canada will host one of four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Greater Victoria this June.
The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia will host a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament from June 23-28, 2020. Ticket information and schedule for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be announced soon.
The official Draw Ceremony for both the men’s and women’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will take place at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball, FIBA headquarters, on November 27, 2019. The draw will divide qualified teams from the five FIBA regions into geographically balanced groups and the ceremony will be live streamed via the FIBA YouTube channel and also the FIBA Facebook account.
The winner of each men’s tournament will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
In addition to Canada, the National Federations of Croatia (Split), Lithuania (Kaunas) and Serbia (Belgrade) will also host FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 produced seven directly qualified teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — Argentina, Australia, Spain, France, Iran, Nigeria, United States of America — and Japan received automatic qualification as the hosts of the event.
The six participating teams will be divided into two groups of three teams each. Each team will play all the other teams in its own group (two games for each team). The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals. The two semifinal winners will advance to the Final, with the winner qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will include the 16 best-placed non-qualified teams from the FIBA Basketball World Cup and two highest-ranked countries per region in the FIBA World Ranking, presented by NIKE.
Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria is an urban city with historic charm, first-class accommodations and amenities, a vibrant local food and beverage scene, and a stunning natural environment. Greater Victoria has a population estimated at 348,000, which makes it the 15th most populous urban region in Canada. With a mild climate year-round, more than 60 regional parks and 26 sport facilities, athletics is part of the Greater Victoria culture.
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre sits on the site of the venerable Victoria Memorial Arena with the state of the art 7,000 seat facility being home to the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals, world-class concerts and sporting events. The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre features more than 1,000 Club and King Club Seats, a fine dining restaurant, a Club lounge, retail space, meeting space, superior sightlines and world-class acoustics.
Canada is currently ranked 21st worldwide in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE and is looking to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2000.
QUOTES
“Being able to host a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at home is a great opportunity for our team on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. On behalf of Canada Basketball, I’d like to extend thanks to Clint Hamilton for his leadership with the Victoria FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament bid. This is sure to be a week-long celebration that fans of basketball in Greater Victoria, and across our great country, won’t ever forget.” – Glen Grunwald, President & CEO, Canada Basketball
“This is an incredible opportunity for the Greater Victoria region to host a world class event, as we’ll welcome with open arms some of the top basketball nations in the world to our community this summer. To provide our Canadian Senior Men’s National Team with a true home court advantage by hosting a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is an important step towards their ultimate goal of medalling at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. I’m certain that hosting this event will leave a lasting legacy on our vibrant basketball and sporting community for years to come.” – Clint Hamilton, Chair, Victoria FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
“This is fantastic news and a testament to the strength of our Region’s sport community. Twelve Olympic and Paralympic sports have their national training centres in Greater Victoria and many of Canada’s most accomplished basketball players and coaches call Victoria home. This tournament will promote a culture of fitness and inspire a new generation of sport leaders and champions. We are very proud to have been chosen to host the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. We look forward to welcoming the athletes, the visitors who will travel to see the games, and to sharing our warm hospitality and beautiful destination with the world through the lens and stories broadcast by the international media who will also be in attendance.” – Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria
SOURCE: Canada Basketball
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