CHN - Wuhan, China confirmed as host city for 26th FIBA Asia Championship

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (FIBA Asia Championship) - Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China has been awarded the right to host the prestigious 26th FIBA Asia Championship.

Scheduled for 15-25 September, the tournament will result in automatic qualification to the London 2012 Olympic Games for the Champion, while the silver and bronze medallists earn a ticket for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Championship will feature 16 top teams from FIBA Asia, with Lebanon, the champions of the 3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup and China as hosts having already qualified. The rest of the field will be decided thanks to a series of qualifying events from the five FIBA Asia subzones.

“China have a rich history of successfully hosting international sport events. The Olympics in 2008 and more recently the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou (in December 2010) are examples for such instances. Therefore, we fully convinced this time too China will turn out to wonderful hosts for such an important event,” said FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud Ali Al-Thani.

“We have two important events, both of them Olympic qualifiers. And we have found excellent hosts for both the events,” added Sheikh Saud referring to the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for Women to be hosted by Japan at Omura-Nagasaki from 21-28 August 2011.

“There can be few better organizers of international basketball events as the Chinese Basketball Association,” said FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock.

“The technical excellence of the CBA and China in general during the Asian Games was amazing. For the first time, we had games in four different venues and we had not even a single complaint from any team. That goes to show how impeccable China can organize events,” added Dato’ Yeoh.

The complete calendar of FIBA Asia events for 2011 will be announced shortly.

FIBA Asia/FIBA