World Cup Venue Indonesia Arena Inaugurated with tip-off day approaching

JAKARTA (Indonesia) - The Indonesia Arena in Gelora Bung Karno (GBK), Senayan, Jakarta was inaugurated ahead of serving as one of the host venues of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from 25 August to 9 September.

Indonesia's president Joko Widodo inaugurated the multifunction indoor arena, which will accommodate up to 16,000 spectators at FIBA's flagship competition.

"Indonesia Arena can be used for basketball tournaments, mainly, but also for badminton, volleyball, futsal, and also of course for concerts," Jokowi said of the venue that was built over 18 months.

The inauguration event was also enlivened with exhibition games between a number of celebrities and former Indonesia national team players as well as musical performances.

Prior to the inauguration of Indonesia Arena by the President, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in Indonesia held a test event in collaboration with the Indonesia Basketball Association (PERBASI). Two Indonesian national basketball teams, senior and junior, competed against Syria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Indonesia International Basketball Invitational (IIBI) tournament.

The tournament took place from 2-5 August, using a single round-robin format.

"It's not every day that I can go home to my family and say I've played on the court that will be the venue for the World Cup," said UAE captain Jasim Mohamed Almaazmi.

UAE coach Mounir Ben Slimane sees the World Cup vibes already felt at the Indonesia Arena.

"Hopefully the stands will be filled during the World Cup at the end of this month," said UAE coach Mounir Ben Slimane who is already feeling World Cup vibes at the Indonesia Arena.

 "Amazing. This is one of the best courts I have visited in my entire basketball career," said Syria coach Javier Juarez Crespo.

Budisatrio Djiwandono, Event Director of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 , said: "We are proud that basketball is the first to use the Indonesia Arena. Moreover, it is home to world-level events. We in the LOC are also excited about making the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 even more successful."

"We are optimistic that we can hold the best World Cup in this new arena."

Indonesia Arena was specifically built as one of the venues for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup games which will be held on August 25, to September 10. The venue will host two groups, namely Group G and Group H. Group G will join Iran, Spain, Ivory Coast, and Brazil. While Group H consists of Canada, Latvia, Lebanon, and France.

FIBA