Yaounde, Cameroon and Monastir, Tunisia to host FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers in February

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - FIBA Regional Office Africa on Friday confirmed the venues for the upcoming February window of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers.  

After successfully holding the games of the Qualifiers in bubbles in November, the third and last window will also be organized as protected environment tournaments in order to ensure health and safety of all participants.

All remaining games of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers will take place during this final window from February 17 to 21, 2021.

The bubbles will be hosted in the cities of Monastir (Tunisia) and Yaounde (Cameroon).

The most important criteria in choosing the hosts, like for the previous window, was health and travel guarantees and compliance with FIBA health protocols, including testing and controlled entry into a secure environment.

The Second Round of Groups A,D and E will take place in Monastir while Groups B and C will be played in Yaounde from February 19 to 21.

This year's AfroBasket Qualifiers return to Yaounde for a second time after the central African country hosted the First Round of Group C in February 2020.

Yaounde was also home to the three-nation Pre-Qualifiers Tournament last October, where Cape Verde defeated South Sudan and Chad to complete Group E's lineup of the Qualifiers alongside Egypt, Uganda and Morocco.

Meanwhile, African national teams' competitions return to Tunisia for the first time since September 2018 when the reigning African champions hosted the third window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers 2019. Prior to that, Tunisia co-hosted the 2017 edition of the African Championship with Senegal, and two years earlier they finished third as hosts of the AfroBasket 2015.  

The national teams that finish in the first three places of each group qualify for the 30th edition of Africa's premier basketball competition, which will take place in the Rwandan capital of Kigali from August 24 to September 5.

In case hosts Rwanda is ranked first, second or third in their group, then the three highest-placed teams will make it to the final tournament from Group D. This also means that the best fourth-placed team in all the five groups, based on the classification rules of the Official Basketball Rules, shall obtain the last spot for the FIBA AfroBasket 2021, making a total of 16 teams. 

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