FIBA Asia Central Board finalises 2016 calendar, sets road map for national federations leading up to region's 2017 flagship competition

NEW DELHI - The second meeting of the 2014-19 FIBA Asia Central Board took place over the weekend in the Indian capital city of New Delhi and under the hospitality of the Basketball Federation of India, with important steps taken to prepare national federations for the region's flagship competition in 2017.

Another key decision saw the finalisation of the calendar for 2016 events in Asia.

The season of events for the current year in the region will tip off with the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship taking place in Iran from 15-24 July. The competition will qualify the top three teams to the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Iran will also organise the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge - a tournament featuring the continent's top 10 national teams - from 9-18 September. This event is the first step in the process of identifying the qualifiers for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, the first-ever Continental Cup played jointly by teams from Asia and Oceania.

Iran or China will host the FIBA Asia Champions Cup between 7-16 October, featuring the top club teams in Asia.

China along with Thailand are the front-runners to host the 2016 FIBA Asia Women's U18 Championship due to take place between 13-20 November and which will qualify three teams to the 2017 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship.

The Asia Central Board, FIBA's top decision-making body in the region, also decided to set a re-worked strategy for promoting FIBA 3x3 basketball competitions in Asia.

FIBA