FIBA selects American Samoa for the Women's wild-card slot of the Pacific Games

PAGO PAGO (American Samoa) - FIBA has selected American Samoa for the wildcard slot in the upcoming Women's Basketball event of the Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.

The American Samoa Basketball Association (ASBA) competed in the FIBA Polynesia Cup and placed fourth place and failed to qualify directly to the quadrennial event.

FIBA Oceania Executive Director David Crocker commended ASBA's commitment to providing the necessary documents to form a competitive team for the event.

"American Samoa was the Silver medalist in 2015 and the question for us was the strength of the team that they were preparing .They provided strong evidence that a quality team will be entered and we are pleased they did the work necessary,"

The island country reached the Finals against Fiji in the 2015 Pacific Games which  gave them a strong case for this year's wild-card slot.

ASBA President Milton Taufa'asau provided a statement regarding their selection to the Pacific Games.

"Talofa FIBA, thank you so much for being patient with us as we worked hard getting tickets but also the athlete's documents to be approved by FIBA. We are excited and can't wait to represent American Samoa this summer,"

American Samoa will join Polynesia Cup champion Cook Islands, Tahiti, Micronesia Games champion Guam, Melanesia Cup champion Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, defending Gold Medalist Fiji and host Samoa to complete the cast.

The Pacific Games will serve as the qualifier to the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2021.

FIBA