ONE MONTH TO GO - Countdown to the 2023 Women's AfroBasket

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - The clock is ticking fast for the twelve-nation 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket, an event that will bring you lots of reasons to follow it closely. 

It's exactly one month today to the start of the tournament, and here are a few things that you need to know about FIBA Africa's most important women's competition.

WHEN - The tournament starts on Friday, July 28 and finishes on Sunday, August 6.

WHERE - Kigali has unofficially been named as the capital of African basketball. Over the past two years the Rwandan capital has hosted the biggest basketball events on the continent, including the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket and the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

KB Arena, a state-of-the-art venue, will be the stage for the 2023 Women's AfroBasket. Kigali will organise the Women's AfroBasket for the first time.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS - So far, ten teams are known to have qualified for the tournament, including three-time defending champions Nigeria; Mali, Cameroon and Senegal who qualified automatically after reaching the Semi-Finals of the 2021 tournament in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Nigeria have won the last three editions of the Women's AfroBasket

DR Congo secured their place in the tournament as winners of Africa Zone 4 Qualifiers held in Yaounde; Egypt beat Uganda in Zone 5's Qualifiers, but both teams qualified for the Final Round; Mozambique and Angola finished first and second, respectively, in Zone 6 and secured their places in the event. Rwanda qualified as hosts.

From June 30 to July 2, Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea will compete in Abidjan for the only ticket reserved for Zones 2 and 3 for the Final Round. 

FIBA Africa will attribute a wildcard ticket to complete the 12-team 2023 Women's AfroBasket line-up.

HOW TO WATCH THE GAMES: FIBA will announce its broadcast partners at later date, but fans wanting to attend games at BK Arena will have the opportunity to do so.

FIBA Africa will provide a comprehensive coverage of the tournament through its social media platforms. 

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Besides crowning the 2023 African champions, the two finalists will qualify for FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) taking place in February 2024.

According to FIBA's competition system, a total of 16 teams will participate in one of four global FIBA WOQTs. Twelve of them, including the 2024 Olympics host (France*) and the winner of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 (USA), will qualify to the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament.

The next Olympic Games will take place in Paris in 2024 from July 26 to August 11.

FIBA