SURFERS PARADISE - As a result of meetings conducted during the FIBA in Oceania's 2016 congress, FIBA is very excited to announce that the Oceania region will be hosting sub-zone qualification competitions starting in 2017.

On the back of FIBA's new competition system, the delegates from Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia came together to discuss how they can implement sub-zone qualification tournaments. These meetings were extremely productive with each region agreeing upon dates, hosts and names for the competitions in their part of Oceania.

Each of the three sub-zones will host their own FIBA sanctioned tournament where teams will compete to become champions of their respective sub-zone’s and a qualification spot to the 2019 Pacific Games.

The FIBA Melanesian Cup (FMC) will be held on the 11th-17th of June 2017 in Papua New Guinea. This will be a round robin style tournament with the 1st and 2nd placed teams competing for the championships cup and the 3rd and 4th playing off for a bronze medal. The top three teams from the FIBA Melanesian Cup will qualify for the 2019 Pacific games.

Final dates for the Micronesian Games (MG) are still to be confirmed but this tournament will be held in YAP sometime in 2018.  The MG will see eight men’s teams and six women’s compete over ten days to be crowned Micronesian Games Champions. The top team from the MG will qualify for the 2019 Pacific games.

The FIBA Polynesian Cup (FPC) will be played in October of 2017 consisting of six men and six women’s teams competing over five days. Teams will be split into two pools of three playing in a round robin format. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals (with the two bottom teams playing off) or if there are five teams or less; one pool will play a round-robin with the top four teams qualifying for semi-finals. The top three teams from the FPC will qualify for the 2019 Pacific games.

“These competitions will not only strengthen the level of competition in the Oceania region and subsequently the Pacific games. It will also help create and fuel healthy rivalries within sub-zones increasing support and national pride behind these national teams,” FIBA in Oceania Executive Director David Crocker.

More details to follow as working committees have been established to plan and conduct these qualification tournaments.

FIBA