TOKYO — Horacio Muratore, president of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), announced here Friday that China will host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, marking the first time that the game will come to China.
The decision was made by the federation’s Central Board after both candidates – China and the Philippines, submitted their bids and each gave presentations during the Host Announcement Ceremony held here Friday.
The board voted 14 in favor of China’s bid, with seven backing that of the Philippines, according to FIBA.
Yao Ming, ambassador for the China 2019 bid, said after the announcement that “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.”
Muratore said that the decision was a difficult one since both candidates did “excellent work.” “However, there can only be one host country for our event in 2019 and it will be China,” he said.
A total of eight Chinese cities, namely Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, will co-host the FIBA flagship event in 2019.
Zhang Jiandong, vice mayor of Beijing, said after the announcement on behalf of the Chinese delegation that China will meet all its bidding commitments and fulfill all related works so as to hold a successful basketball event for the world.