VEN - Olympic Qualifying Tournament bid: Venezuela profile

CARACAS (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - With decision regarding the attribution of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men and Women set for the FIBA Central Board meeting this coming weekend (10-11 November) in Madrid, Spain, we bring you the the bidder profile of Venezuela, the last of our series.

Venezuela ensured their place in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men thanks to a fifth place finish at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina, paving the way for a bid to host the event.

Although the country has never organised a worldwide FIBA Championship, Venezuela has previously hosted international basketball, welcoming the 2006 South American Championship for Men and the 2002 Americas U18 Championship for Men.

FIBA.com caught up with Carmelo Cortez, President of the Venezuela Basketball Federation, to discuss the bid that would see Caracas' spectacular Polidero arena welcome a week-long battle for the last three Olympic places.

FIBA: Can you explain to us why you are bidding for this tournament?

Carmelo Cortez: We are bidding to host the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for a number of reasons, but the most importantly we are convinced of having all the necessary ?arguments? to be able to host an event of this significance and join the list of countries with experience in organising events of this nature. We have a medium-term project linked to the organization of this event in view of presenting ourselves a candidates to host the FIBA ​​Americas Championship 2013 FIBA ​​Americas Championship and finally we believe that playing the tournament in our country will give us a better chance of qualifying for the Olympics in 2012.

FIBA: What are the strong points of your bid?

Cortez: Beyond the strengths of our candidacy, we are submitting a bid which has a strong political will from our government to fulfill all our obligations and host a first class event that will make us and FIBA proud, and will make the teams feel at home. The existing union between the authorities - not only governmental but also sporting such as the Ministry of Sports, the Venezuelan Olympic  Committee and the Venezuelan Basketball Federation, foresees an excellent strategic partnership in view of a win-win scenario.  

FIBA: How big of an advantage will playing at home be for your team?

Cortez: It will of course be an important advantage for our country to be able to play at home in front of a crowd of approximately 10,000 people, who will act as a sixth man.

FIBA: Apart from home court advantage, what will hosting an Olympic Qualifying Tournament bring to your country and to basketball there?

Cortez: Apart from the location for us, this tournament will bring a significant improvements to our arena, while the legacy will be a High Performance Basketball Center Basketball as well as the experience of organising a such an important and signiciant event.

FIBA: What is the greatest moment in your country’s basketball history and how big of an achievement would it be for your team to qualify for the 2012 Olympics?

Cortez: The most important moment that we experienced in our basketball history was our silver medal in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament of the Americas  (FIBA Americas Championship) in 1992, where we played the first US Dream Team and resulted in our qualification to the Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​Spain.
If we secure qualification to the London 2012 Olympics, it would match our achievement of 1992 and place Venezuelan Basketball in major sports in our country.

FIBA