Georgia to co-host FIBA EuroBasket in 2021
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, July 17
Georgia will be one of the countries where 2021 European Championship will be held in basketball.
The decision was made by the FIBA Europe Board on July 15 in Munich, Germany, as a result of which, along with the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy, Georgia will also host the 41st edition of FIBA EuroBasket in 2021.
Following the success of EuroBasket 2015 and 2017, the FIBA Europe Board opted to follow the same path for the 2021 edition of Europe’s premier basketball competition and award four countries with hosting. The Group Phase matches are scheduled to take place in Georgia.
In total, seven different countries were bidding for a piece of EuroBasket - Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia all put in impressive bids; however, the FIBA Europe Board chose only four.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Ambassador of Georgia to Germany Elguja Khokrishvili, President of Georgian Basketball Federation Paata Guraspauli and Basketball players Tornike Shengelia and Vladimir Boisa attended the host announcement ceremony in Munich.
Zurabishvili made a speech and presented a video about Georgia. In the report, she emphasized the readiness of the country to host FIBA EUROPE -2021.
FIBA Europe President Turgay Demirel said the organization is happy with the decision to continue the tradition of multi-hosting.
“The 2021 edition will bring both experience and new ideas with Germany already hosting the EuroBasket four times, most recently in the Group Phase of the 2015 edition, and Georgia is coming in as a first time organizer. All four co-hosts are passionate basketball nations,” he noted.
Georgian Prime Minister, Mamuka Bakhtadze commented on Georgia’s selection as a co-host country on Twitter.
“I want to congratulate all the Georgian basketball fans w/ @EuroBasket choosing Georgia as one of the host countries of European Basketball Championship. Georgia is transforming into a hotspot for sporting events, and gov’t is fully dedicated to this vision!” the tweet reads.
FIBA EuroBasket 2021 will take place in September, which will be the first since it was agreed to take place every four years, rather than two. The FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers will be played across three windows in February and November 2020 and then February 2021. The knock-out phase will be played in Berlin, Germany.
FIBA Europe is a zone within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which includes all 50 national European basketball federations.
FIBA itself is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, organizes international competitions, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international referees.
A total of 213 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
