PR N°13 - Just 100 days to go before the "Giant Get-Together"
LONDON (2010 FIBA World Championship) – With 100 days to go before the start of the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, the organisers say all tickets that were available on public sale for the event have already sold out. Only a small contingent will be made available shortly before the ...
The 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship in Turkey
LONDON (2010 FIBA World Championship) – With 100 days to go before the start of the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, the organisers say all tickets that were available on public sale for the event have already sold out.
Only a small contingent will be made available shortly before the event begins on 28th August.
Around 350,000 people are expected to attend the Championship, which culminates in the final on 12th September.
The event will be played in four cities - Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri - and feature 24 teams, with 288 players playing 80 games. Two new venues have been built especially for the Championship.
Patrick Baumann, the Secretary-General of basketball's governing body FIBA and a member of the International Olympic Committee, said:
"The 2010 World Championship will be the world's biggest ever basketball competition, and the biggest event ever to be held in Turkey. We are delighted that all available tickets have already sold out, a sign that the world's second biggest sport is as popular as ever.
"Basketball has a clean, positive and exciting image and is followed by over 450million people around the world. Its future is as bright as ever and the World Championship will be a clear symbol of the sport's growing success."
The first round of the Championship, which returns to Europe for the first time in 12 years, will be played from 28th August to 12th September and feature superstars including Kobe Bryant.
The team winning the FIBA World Championship 2010 will qualify automatically for the London 2012 Olympics.
The following teams have qualified for Turkey:
Group A (Kayseri): Angola, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Jordan, Serbia
Group B (Istanbul): Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia, Tunisia, USA
Group C (Ankara): China, Greece, Ivory Coast, Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkey
Group D (Izmir): Canada, France, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, Spain
For further information, please visit fiba.com or contact:
FIBA Press Office on +41 (0)22 545 00 46 or communications@fiba.com
LEWIS PR on +44 (0)207 802 2626 or fiba@lewispr.com
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About FIBA
FIBA (www.fiba.basketball), the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Its main upcoming events are the 2010 FIBA World Championships for Men and Women, to take place in Turkey and in the Czech Republic respectively.
For further information about the 2010 FIBA World Championship, visit the event website http://turkey2010.fiba.com, the FIBA twitter page http://twitter.com/fibaworld or the FIBA Facebook page http://facebook.com/FIBAWorld.