In a FIBA meeting held in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 7, China outbid the Philippines to host the 2019 Basketball World Cup. The upcoming tournament will feature 32 teams--a first for the FIBA World Cup.
The decision was reached by FIBA's Central Board after delegate parties from The People's Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines submitted their bids and gave their presentations. Basketball superstar Yao Ming, the Ambassador for the China 2019 bid, was part of the Chinese contingent.
"It's such an exciting moment to bring the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup to China and I'm sure that millions of fans are sharing this joy with us," he said.
"We have to pay tribute to the Philippines delegation. They were great opponents. Only opponents like them could really push us to our limits to test how capable we are. Even if we were opponents on this occasion, we still have a friendship with them."
Dubbed "More Than Ever," China's bid highlighted the country's world-class sports facilities, modern transportation, high-class hotels and strong economy.
On the other hand, the Philippine delegation, which included Filipino-American Hollywood actor Lou Diamond Phillips, tugged on the heartstrings.
"For us, there is no bigger dream than to host the World Cup. We have the capability. But we also have something unique: One country, an entire nation waiting to welcome the world," said former national team player Jimmy Alapag.
The two countries presented great bids that divided the Central Board.
"This was a very difficult decision because we had two national federations who did excellent work. However, there can only be one host country for our event in 2019 and it will be China," said Horatio Muratore, the FIBA president.
This will be the first time China will host the World Cup. The event will be spread in eight of its cities: Beijing, Dongguan, Nanjing, Foshan, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Guangzhou.