FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 bid in focus: Turkey

MIES, Switzerland (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023) - Thursday August 31 marked the deadline for candidates bidding to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 to submit their Candidature Files.

Russia and Turkey have each put forward single host nation bids, while Argentina/Uruguay and Indonesia/Japan/Philippines are teaming up in two multiple host countries candidacies.

We give the floor to each bidder to talk about its candidacy.

Key facts about Turkey and basketball

Population: 78.74 million (2016) Capital city: Ankara Joined FIBA in: 1936 [/unordered]

Biggest basketball achievements to date

1-time runners-up at FIBA Basketball World Cup (2010) 1-time runners-up at FIBA EuroBasket (2001) 2-time Mediterranean Games gold medalists (1987 and 2013) [/unordered]

Proposed cities and venues

Ankara: Ankara Arena (Group Phase) Antalya: Antalya Spor Salonu (Group Phase) Istanbul: Fenerbahçe Ülker Arena (Group Phase) Istanbul: Sinan Erdem Arena (Final Phase) Izmir: Karşıyaka Arena (Group Phase) [/unordered]

Why did you decide to apply to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023?

Turkey is full of passionate basketball fans, people who love the sport and their national team. The Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) seeks to increase this passion by bringing the World Cup back to Turkey, inspiring our nation with incredible performances by teams around the world.

We have been honored to host this great event in the past and have seen an increase in interest from all stakeholders of basketball - especially grassroots participation in the sport - since we served as hosts. Along with our staging of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2010 and the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup four years later, we planned and successfully delivered the 'Children of the World' project and the 'Pass it On' camp, bringing the youth of the world together in celebration of basketball and culture. We have continued these programs and expanded them to provide personal development skills for the disadvantaged youth in Turkey and across the region. We want to continue to advance the sport and these programs in our country and region in order to bring the joy of basketball to the large youth population in our country and the surrounding countries.

Why did you decide to host FIBA's flagship event as a single host? What are the benefits that you see in doing so?

After a long period of facilities development, we have venues across our country suitable for a world-class basketball tournament. We have applied as a single host so we can reach a large majority of our country's basketball fans by hosting the event in cities across the nation, allowing us to build passion for the sport across a wider range of communities. The cities that have been selected are all established basketball centers in our country that are also major tourist destinations. Each has excellent air connectivity - with just over an hour's travel time between each - to provide a great experience for spectators and teams and an efficient operation for all client groups.

What are for you the main takeaways from FIBA's recent site workshop?

We were excited to hear about FIBA's new Joint Management Committee structure, the return on investment (ROI) of the event, the 1,000 day event concept to help activate and excite the community and commercial partners in the lead-up to the event, the new format and calendar changes as well as the opportunity to work with FIBA in a true partnership to deliver an even greater World Cup in Turkey.

FIBA