BARCELONA, Spain (2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup) – At its meeting on 1 February 2014, FIBA’s Central Board decided to award the four wild cards for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to Brazil (#10 in FIBA Ranking Men), Finland (#39), Greece (#5) and Turkey (#7).
Considering the fact that the officials in charge of the Senegalese Basketball Federation have complied with past disciplinary sanctions imposed by FIBA and have agreed to a clear road map for the complete re-organisation of the national federation, FIBA's Central Board has accepted to lift the ban imposed on the Senegalese national team and allow it to take part in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
As a result, the field is now complete for FIBA’s flagship event. The 24 teams are:
Angola Argentina Australia Brazil
Croatia Dominican Republic Egypt Finland
France Greece Iran Korea
Lithuania Mexico New Zealand Philippines
Puerto Rico Senegal Serbia Slovenia
Spain Turkey Ukraine USA
The wild cards are made to ensure that FIBA has the teams which enable it to have the best possible FIBA Basketball World Cup, as FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann highlighted.
"Since 2006, 11 of the 12 teams that have been granted wild cards were always inside the top 24 of the FIBA Ranking Men," he said. "This proves that FIBA’s Central Board is determined to make the FIBA Basketball World Cup as competitive as possible.
"Three of the recipients of the wild cards for Spain 2014 are ranked inside the top 10. Greece, fifth in the current ranking, are a powerhouse of international basketball and this is the first time they have asked for a wild card. Brazil were quarter-finalists at the 2012 London Olympics, are 10th in the world and will host the 2016 Rio Olympics. Turkey were silver medalists at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and are a regular fixture in leading international tournaments.
"The fourth, Finland, impressed at EuroBasket 2013 by beating four teams from the Top 15 in FIBA's Ranking Men as they finished ninth in Slovenia. The Finns are enjoying massive support with their fans travelling in big numbers to their games.
"The current growth of Finnish basketball is the result of a solid long-term strategy being executed by the Finnish Basketball Association and still has a lot of potential for development."
"All four teams have confirmed the total commitment of their best players to participate at Spain 2014.
"These picks have also been backed by the Local Organising Committee."
The following criteria were taken into consideration to determine the recipients of the four wild cards:
Sporting and Promotional Aspects
- The popularity of basketball in the country
- The quality and sporting results of the national teams of the country
- The hosting or bidding for hosting of past FIBA events
- The impact of a participation at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the country in view of the country’s basketball development
- The commitment of the best players from the country to participate at the FIBA Basketball World Cup
Economic Aspects
- The involvement of local television and corporate sector in the domestic and international basketball competitions
- The importance of the country’s market to FIBA’s commercial partners
- The importance of the country to the Organisers of the FIBA Basketball World Cup
Governance Aspects
- Compliance with the Internal Regulations and General Statutes of FIBA
- The quality of the work of the National Federation
- Governmental support to the National Federation
- Participation in FIBA and/or FIBA Zone activities, commissions, etc...
National federations applying to have their national team considered for a wild card could make a donation. Each national federation was free to decide the amount to be donated. The amounts collected will be invested in the development of basketball through 3x3 and women’s basketball through the International Basketball Federation (IBF).
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela were the 15 national teams that submitted their applications for the wild cards. Italy and Germany subsequently withdrew their bids and China did so on Saturday morning.
In 2006, Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey were the recipients of the first-ever wild cards for FIBA’s flagship event. In 2010, the berths went to Germany, Lebanon, Lithuania and Russia.
The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup marks the last time that a system of attribution of wild cards is called into play.
Under its new system of competition and calendar which comes into effect in 2017, FIBA will ensure that the best teams qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup over the course of a qualification phase taking place over 18 months.
Go to http://www.fiba.com/spain2014 to find out all about the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
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