Fuente: © FIBA (Federación Internacional de Basket)
http://www.fiba.org/

FIBA: ITA, PUR, SCG and TUR receive Wild Cards

/noticias.info/ ROME (FIBA World Championship 2006) - The Basketball Federations of Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia & Montenegro and Turkey have received invitations to participate in the FIBA World Championship 2006 in Japan next summer.

The FIBA Central Board, who met this weekend for its bi-annual meeting in Rome, Italy, made this decision upon the proposal of its Secretary General, Patrick Baumann, from Switzerland.

The decision was based on a number of criteria, which were approved by the Central Board at its last meeting in May 2005 in Nyon, Switzerland.

The following 24 teams will now play from 19th August - 3rd September 2006 for the most prestigious basketball title on earth:

Angola
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
China
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Japan
Lebanon
Lithuania
New Zealand
Nigeria
Panama
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Senegal
Serbia & Montenegro
Slovenia
Spain
Turkey
Venezuela
USA


Draw on January 15 in Tokyo

The draw for the 2006 FIBA World Championship will take place on 15th January in the New Takanawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. The 24 teams will be drawn into 4 groups of 6 teams each.

Media wishing to attend the draw should contact the Local Organising Committee by e-mail at the following address: draw@fiba2006.jp. All request should be made by 12th December 2005.


FIBA World Championship: One World - One Title

The FIBA World Championship is played every 4 years and determines the best basketball nation of the world. The first World Championship was played in 1950 in Argentina and since then, has been organised 14 times.

Yugoslavia is leading the role of honor with 5 gold medals followed by the Soviet Union and USA with 3 gold medals each. The 2002 FIBA World Championship was played in Indianapolis, USA, where Yugoslavia won gold and Argentina silver.

The host country finished with an unexpected 6th place and it was also the first time a USA team represented by NBA players lost a game in this competition.

The 2006 edition will be played in Japan from 19th August until 3rd September in five different cities. FIBA has increased the number of teams playing at the FIBA World Championship from 16 to 24 teams because of the increased level of basketball around the world and the increasing number of competitive teams at the highest level.

The teams will play each other in the preliminary phase in four groups of 6 teams. The top 4 teams from each group will then qualify directly for the Eighth-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals. All the games from the Eighth-Finals to the Finals will be played on a one-game elimination basis. notas_de_prensa_archivo