ARG - Olympic Qualifying Tournament bid: Argentina profile

MAR DEL PLATA (Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women) - On Wednesday Czech Republic Basketball Federation Secretary General Milos Prazak introduced his country's bid to host the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.

In today's featured interview, we look into Argentina's bid to host the event, as we talk to Argentinian Basketball Federation President Germán Vaccaro.

The host city would be Mar del Plata, which welcomed the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, with the games to be played in the 8,500 seat Polideportivo Islas Malvinas Stadium.

Argentina qualified for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women thanks to their second place finish at the FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Columbia.

FIBA: Mr Vaccaro, can you explain to us why you are bidding for this tournament?

Germán Vaccaro: We have a project with women’s basketball that points to the Olympic Games of Rio 2016. Our girls had an excellent year in 2011: they finished second in the FIBA Americas Championship in Neiva, Columbia, and then achieved a historical win over the USA at the Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

For having accomplished all of those, they deserve to play the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women at home. That is why we are doing everything possible to get the right to host it.

FIBA: What are the strong points of your bid?

Vaccaro: With the organisation of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina, we demonstrated that we are qualified to organise world class events.

We have a beautiful arena, excellent hotels and very good people to receive the visitors. Mar del Plata has a population of 750,000 and it's a wonderful city on the Argentinian coast, on the Atlantic Ocean.

FIBA: How big of an advantage will playing at home be for your team?

Vaccaro: Playing at home can be very important because our fans always support our national teams very strongly and passionately. We know that it is a very difficult task (to win the right to host the Olympic Qualifying Tournament) because there is very strong competition from Turkey (one of the other bidding countries). But it’s also true that FIBA know that we work very well.

Apart from home court advantage, what will hosting an Olympic Qualifying Tournament bring to your country and to basketball there?

Vaccaro: It’s a very important tournament with many fans travelling to attend it. So that generates a great movement for tourism, which is very important for the city. In addition, it would mean to have a great world repercussion during these days and that speaks itself of us.

FIBA: What is the greatest moment in your country’s basketball history and how big of an achievement would it be for your team to qualify for the 2012 Olympics?

Vaccaro: Argentina is very strong in men’s basketball, having won a FIBA World Championship in 1950 and the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

But our women’s teams have never made it to the Olympics so that is something we want to achieve.

FIBA

Click here to find out more about the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and for Women.