Press Release no. 43: Turkey hosts FIBA World Championship in 2010

The FIBA Central Board has decided today at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that Turkey will be the host for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The 20 member board voted on three candidates who also included a bid from France and a combined bid from Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
 
Turgay Demirel, the President of the Turkish Basketball Federation stated after the announcement: "This is a big day for Turkey. We are delighted to host the FIBA World Championship in 2010. We will make the World Championship the most prestigious and important sports event in the year 2010. We will start our global promotion campaign in cooperation with all continental organizations of FIBA after the Beijing Olympics in 2008."

Bogdan Tanjevic, the coach of the Turkish national team added: "This is a huge chance for Turkish basketball. There is a new generation of young players with huge potential and in combination with the experienced players we can reach new heights. Turkey is an emerging basketball power with a young population who loves basketball."

The Turkish bid was presented under the slogan "Let's meet where the continents meet" and will incorporate a strong support from the Turkish Government. According to the proposal from Turkey, the 2010 World Championship will be played in the cities of Antalya, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.
 
The decision of the 19 Central Board members present in Kuala Lumpur was extremely tight. In the first voting round France received 8 votes, Turkey 7 votes and Serbia & Montenegro 4 votes. In the second and decisive voting round, Turkey received 10 votes, and France 9 votes.

FIBA President Carl Men Ky Ching stated: "Turkey is a good choice. We can be sure that we will have a perfect championship there. At the same time, I would like to thank France and Serbia & Montenegro for their outstanding bids. We look forward to the 2006 championship in Japan, but will start immediately working on 2010 with our friends from Turkey."

The decision was preceded by a presentation from each bidding country and a report by a FIBA Evaluation Commission, headed by FIBA's first Vice President Bob Elphinston. "All three bids were exceptionally good. This was a very difficult decision for the Board, but at the same time it showed the big interest from our members to host our prime event."
 
FIBA World Championship - Quick Facts:

The FIBA World Championship is played every 4 years and determines the best basketball nation of the world. The first World Championship was played in 1950 in Argentina and has been organized 14 times since. Yugoslavia is leading the role of honor with 5 gold medals followed by the Soviet Union and USA with 3 gold medals each. The 2002 FIBA World Championship was played in Indianapolis, USA, when Yugoslavia won gold and Argentina silver. The host country finished with an unexpected 6th place and it was also the first time a USA team represented by NBA players lost a game in this competition. The 2006 edition will be played in Japan with 24 teams from five continents.