FIBA - Profile of 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup wild card candidate: Italy

MIES (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - On 1 February 2014, FIBA's Central Board will announce the national teams that will be the recipients of the four wild cards to complete the field at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Fifteen national teams from across four FIBA zones submitted their applications for the wild cards. They all participated in their respective 2013 continental championships which are qualifying tournament for FIBA's flagship event in Spain next year (30 August-14 September 2014).

The 15 candidates are: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela.

In the lead-up to the decision on 1 February, we will profile all 15 applicants.

Today we look at Italy (ITA).

Recent history in international competitions: Italy were one of the surprise packages at EuroBasket 2013, finishing the First Round as the only undefeated team despite a number of injuries to big-name players in the build-up to the tournament. The Azzurri beat Russia, Turkey, Finland, Greece and Sweden for a 5-0 record. Italy then lost to Slovenia and Croatia in the Second Round before an overtime win over Spain got them into the Quarter-Finals. But Italy lost their last three games to finish eighth. It was their first Final Eight showing in Europe since they took third place in 2003. The Italians won two European titles in 1983 and 1999 and took silver medals in the Olympics in 1980 and 2004 - the latter the last time they played at the Summer Games. Italy last played at FIBA's flagship event in 2006, getting a wild card for the tournament in Japan, where they took ninth place.

Maurizio Bertea, the Secretary General of the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP), took time to make his country's case for receiving a wild card.

FIBA: What are the three main reasons why Italy deserves to receive a wild card to participate in the 2014 FIBA World Cup?
Bertea: The three main reasons why our country deserves to receive a wild card to participate in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup are the following: 1. The main fact is due to the importance that our participation in this event could signify for the image and great promotion for the development and growth of basketball in our country. Basketball in Italy counts almost 400,000 registered individuals. 2. We must also consider such participation as an important key feature to put our national players on the world stage. In fact, the wild card that FIBA granted us to take part in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan was a key factor and played a significant role with the result that now four of our athletes are currently playing in the NBA: Andrea Bargnani (New York Knicks), Marco Belinelli (San Antonio Spurs), Luigi Datome (Detroit Pistons) and Danilo Gallinari (Denver Nuggets). 3. Participating in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup will also affect the governance and the economic aspect of the Italian Basketball Federation, maintaining revenue growth and even increasing, with new sponsorship contracts, its financial balance sheets and its administrative strength, which is already consolidated nowadays.

FIBA: If given a wild card, how competitive can we expect Italy to be and how confident are you that the team will feature all its leading/best players?
Bertea: By coming in eighth at EuroBasket 2013, our team finished just outside the European qualified teams for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The team achieved this despite being without two of its top level players - Andrea Bargnani and Danilo Gallinari, outstanding NBA players who were injured at the time, and also without another key player, Daniel Lorenzo Hackett. Moreover, our U20 men's national team won the gold medal at the European Championship in that age category last summer and the MVP of the tournament was Amedeo Della Valle, who is now playing at Ohio State University, one of most important colleges. All stated above leads us to be extremely confident of being able to have a good and highly-competitive team.

FIBA: How will having your national team play at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup help the growth, development anf popularity of the sport in your country?
Bertea: As already explained, the FIBA Basketball World Cup is the the best stage together with Olympic Games for both individual players and the entire Italian basketball movement. It would be an important showcase for emerging players such as Alessandro Gentile, Nicolo Melli and so on… Participating in the tournament also means that the images of our national team will enter every house, drawing the attention and promoting basketball between adults and kids of many families. The national team generates a big enthusiasm, as demonstrated during the games of the last EuroBasket. That kind of feeling cannot be matched by any victories of any club teams.

FIBA: What do you consider as the greatest moment in your country's basketball history?
Bertea: The greatest moments in our country's basketball history are the two gold medals won at the European Championships in Nantes (1983) and in Paris (1999) and, of course, the two silver medals at the Olympic Games in Moscow (1980) and Athens (2004).

Key facts and figures and additional information about basketball in Italy:
Breakdown of the near 400,000 individuals registered with FIP:
• 141,961 men's players
• 23,019 women’s players
• 104,469 mini-basketball registered boys
• 19,969 mini-basketball registered girls
• 7,709 mini-basketball instructors
• 13,429 coaches
• 7,139 referees
• 3,430 table officials
• 2,711 clubs officials at national level
• 17,901 clubs officials at regional level
• 2,587 men's club teams
• 577 women's club teams
• 2,576 mini-basketball affiliated centres

FIBA