LTU - Olympic Qualifying Tournament bid: Lithuania profile

VILNIUS (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - On Tuesday, we began looking at the bids to host the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) starting with F.Y.R. of Macedonia.

Today, we turn our attention to Lithuania, the hosts of the EuroBasket 2011.

Mindaugas Balciunas, Secretary General of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LBBF), took time to answer our questions and explained what EuroBasket 2011 did for basketball in the country.

FIBA: Can you explain to us why you are bidding for this championship/tournament?

Mindaugas Balciunas: Everyone in the world knows how much Lithuanians love basketball. EuroBasket 2011 was perfect, it was a nationwide festival. Lithuania is the only country in Europe where a basketball tournament can turn into a national celebration. Lithuania is a big basketball centre in Europe and in the whole world, everyone could experience that during EuroBasket 2011. So we want so celebrate basketball again. We want to participate in the Olympic games for the sixth time in a row. We haven't missed any Olympic Games since 1992 when Lithuania re-established independence. It is a very important aim (to qualify for the London Games) and we want to achieve it in front of our fans.
 
FIBA: What are the strong points of your bid?

Balciunas: We have everything it takes to organise a tournament of the highest level. We have the new arenas, a lot of experience, wonderful fans, support of the goverment, a big base of experienced and passionate volunteers. Kaunas and Vilnius have wonderful big arenas, they are ideal places for this kind of tournament. There are enough hotels of the highest quality for teams and fans. Distances are very short, so we never experience any problems with logistics. I am sure that an Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Lithuania would become a new national festival with everyone getting involved.

FIBA: How big of an advantage will playing at home be for your team?

Balciunas: Our team of course would enjoy playing in front of its own fans, but playing at home is not our main target. We want to organise this tournament because Lithuania is a perfect place for any basketball tournament. We have everything it takes from fans to sponsors. It's a win-win situation for everyone. We will use wonderful arenas and the fans will enjoy being there as well as watching basketball on TV. They will feel the wonderful atmosphere that follows all basketball games in Lithuania.

FIBA: Apart from home court advantage, what will hosting an Olympic Qualifying Tournament bring to your country and to basketball there?

Balciunas: As I mentioned before, it would bring a new, big nationwide basketball festival. Only here can everyone experience what it looks like when the whole country lives with basketball. One of Lithuania's main targets is to have big basketball events here every year. It is also a very big advertisment for the country and a city localy and internationaly. Having a part of the Olympic Games come to Lithuania would be a historic achievment for Lithuania.
 
FIBA: What is the greatest moment in your country’s basketball history and how big of an achievement would it be for your team to qualify for the 2012 Olympics?

Balciunas: We took part in five Olympic Games in a row. That is a result any country would be proud of. We won three European Championships (1937, 1939 and 2003), we took European silver in 1995 and bronze in 2007. We were third at the Olympic Games of 1992, 1996 and 2000 and fourth in both 2004 and 2008. Also we won bronze at last year's FIBA World Championship. That's a fantastic record for a country of our size. And that is a main reason for our love for the game. We have a very strong team and it will be even stronger next year. The Olympic Qualifying Tournament would be a great present to Lithuania that will celebrate the 90th anniversary of basketball in the country. The first basketball game in Lithuania was played on 23rd April in 1922.

FIBA