BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Two icons will headline the much-awaited FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers Draw on September 19 at the Ezdan Palace Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Hamed Haddadi and Gabe Norwood will serve as special guests of the event and will help carry out the draw that will be streamed live through FIBA's official YouTube page at 19:00 local time.

The revered figures have gone into countless battles against one another, none more important than the FIBA Asia Cup 2013 where Iran beat the Philippines in the Final before a raucous Filipino crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay to win their third gold medal.

Still, there's that mutual respect and admiration between the two, and the Draw would be another opportunity to link up as they help usher a new cycle of the continental meet.

Haddadi, 38, will be making his first public engagement since calling it quits on a decorated international career during the recently-concluded FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

The four-time Asia Cup MVP played his final game against Lebanon at the conclusion of Team Melli's campaign in Jakarta, and was adored by everyone in the Indonesia Arena as they all paid respect to the man that steered Iran to two Olympic appearances and four World Cup trips.

Haddadi will be sharing the stage with another Asian basketball luminary in Norwood, who had served the Philippine national team for over 15 years.

Also 38, he helped put the Philippines back in the map when they brought the country to its first World Cup stint in nearly four decades by reaching the 2013 Asia Cup Final.

He rose into global fame during the 2014 World Cup for his poster dunk on Argentina legend Luis Scola, further adding to a legacy that saw him play in a total of five Asia Cup editions, winning silver twice. He is a two-time World Cup campaigner as he saw action in 2019 as well.

Together, they will help the 24 participating teams learn their respective groupings and opponents for the Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, whose first window will be played on February 2024.

Sixteen teams that took part in the previous Asia Cup will see action in the Qualifiers, namely Australia, Lebanon, New Zealand, Jordan, Iran, South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and India.

Palestine, Iraq, Qatar, UAE, Guam, Thailand, Mongolia, and Hong Kong completed the cast following successful runs in the Pre-Qualifiers, which ran from June 2022 to February 2023.

FIBA