Commonwealth Games – Australian bid includes basketball commitment

QUEENSLAND (2018 Commonwealth Games) – A successful bid by Australia’s Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games would see basketball among the list of sports, the team behind the Gold Coast bid have announced, a move welcomed by FIBA Secretary General and IOC Member Patrick Baumann.

“Basketball is one of the most widely played and viewed sports globally, and with such a strong talent pool in the Commonwealth I welcome this announcement from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Committee,” Bauman said.

Explaining the addition of basketball to the list of sports, Gold Coast 2018 Bid Chairman Mark Stockwell said: “We have assembled a program that we believe will provide spectators with a varied array of sports and competing countries with a number of different avenues to prove their abilities.”

“Basketball is very much a global sport, and as such, we felt it would be a worthwhile addition to our prospective Commonwealth Games program”, he added.

The preliminary round would be held in the cities of Cairns and Townsville, two cities that play host to successful Australian NBL teams, while the finals would be played at the Gold Coast Sports Arena located at the Southport Broadwater Parklands.

The only occasion basketball was played as part of the Commonwealth Games was in 2006, when the games were also held in Australia, in the city of Melbourne. On that occasion, the men and women’s podiums were carbon copies of each other, with Australia winning gold, New Zealand silver and England bronze.

The hosts for the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be announced at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly on 11 November 2011.

FIBA