MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has a tall order of opponents in front of them as they bid for the right to be one of the 3 hosts for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament that takes place from July 4-10, 2016.
According to a report released by FIBA on Monday, October 26, 10 countries have expressed interest in hosting the 3 6-team Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, with the winner of each competition getting the 3 remaining spots for the men’s basketball tourney in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Joining the Philippines in the fight for hosting rights are Asian rival Iran, Germany, Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Serbia and Turkey.
The winners will be announced on November 23.
Along with a confirmation fee of 20,000 euros, the Philippines submitted their intention to make a bid on October 16.
(READ: Baldwin wants all Gilas 3.0 members included in OQT pool)
So far, 15 countries have already qualified for the 3 OQTs: Philippines, Angola, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, and Tunisia.
Per FIBA, 3 more countries will join the tournaments and who those are will be determined after the selection of the 3 hosts.
“If any of Czech Republic, Greece, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Philippines or Serbia are granted the hosting duties for an OQT, then the best non-qualified teams from the respective continent will be asked to express their interest in participating in the OQTs,” the FIBA report said.
Germany, Israel, and Turkey can only participate in the tournaments if they win hosting rights.
FIBA is using 5 criteria in determining who wins hosting rights.
The first is player welfare, which means the “best possible conditions for players,” according to the governing basketball body of the world.
Second is stakeholder experience, which means “first-class event for spectators, teams, media and broadcasters, commercial partners as well as all other stakeholders. This includes venues filled to capacity and the provision of appropriate promotional strategy to achieve this goal.”
Third is state-of-the-art-facilities and infrastructure. “FIBA aims at hosting events in high-level competition venues that meet or exceed its requirements,” the report said.
Fourth is legacy. According to FIBA, the “event must bring benefits for basketball in the country, prestige and credit to the host nation and FIBA, as well as being of support to the strategic ambitions of the entire basketball family.”
Last is commercial model. “The event,” per FIBA, “must be based on sound commercial and promotional initiatives and be financially successful.”
The report also indicates that the deadline to submit candidature files is on Wednesday, November 11, with the evaluation taking place after.
The Philippines just recently lost a bidding war as FIBA chose China to host the 2019 FIBA World Cup. – Rappler.com