Philippine bid for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

Philippines bid
for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Bidding Logo
Bid Details
Bidding nation	Philippines
Bidding federation	Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
Proposed venues	at least 6 (in 6 cities)
Bidding decision	7 August 2015 in Tokyo, Japan
Bid result
Lost to China's bid

The Philippine bid for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup is the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas's bid for the right to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.^[1] On 16 March 2015, the bid became one of the only two formal candidates with the other bidding nation being China, as FIBA decided that the 2019 World Cup will be played in Asia.

Bid

A six-man bidding team was formed in December 2014, to attend the bid workshop in Geneva, Switzerland. It was led by Philippine Tourism Undersecretary Domingo Ramon Eneiro, Philippine Basketball Association Chairman Pato Gregorio, and SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios. Also included in the team are SBP Deputy Executive Director Butch Antonio, Logistics Consultant Andrew Teh, and Octagon Asia-Pacific President Sean Nicholls.^[2]

Timeline

The SBP announced its interest to host the 2019 Basketball World Cup in September 2013, right after the successful hosting of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, which top FIBA officials commended the nation for the high attendance rating, TV coverage, and logistics management.^[7]

Details

A number of sites were proposed as venues for the Basketball World Cup.

FIBA underlined some requirements for the venues to be used:^[8]

• There should be at least a minimum of 4-5 venues, 2 venues for the Knock-out Stage
• A press center 150 pax for the Group Stage and 300 pax for the Final Round, 2 square meters per person

Proposed venues

At least six venues to be proposed as venues, including three planned locations.^[9]

A three-man FIBA Evaluation Commission fly arrived in the Philippines on January 26, 2015 to inspect the five venues and assess the Philippines' capability to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Patrick Baumann, secretary-general of FIBA three days after the first group arrived.^[10]

On January 30, 2015, in a press conference at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann declared that the Philippines is capable of hosting the FIBA World Cup in 2019.^[11][12]

Venues throughout the Philippines	Pasay	Quezon City	Bocaue	Venues within Metro Manila
Cebu Bacolod Bocaue M. Manila	Mall of Asia Arena	Smart Araneta Coliseum	Philippine Arena	Quezon City Parañaque and Pasay
	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 55,000
	Cebu City	Parañaque	Bacolod
	Seaside City Arena (new venue)	Solaire Arena [13] (new venue)	Bacolod City Arena [14] (new venue)
	Capacity: 16,000	Capacity: TBA	Capacity: TBA

Final Bid Presentation

The final bid presentation was made in Tokyo on August 7, 2015. Filipino fans were urged to make the hashtag #PUSO2019 trending on social media while the final bid was being presented. The bid focused on "heartware,” or what the bidding team describes as the passion of the Filipino for basketball. The bid also highlited the designation of the country as the "social media capital of the world".^[15]

A bidding team composing of 11 people was sent to Tokyo for the final bid presentation. The people who composed the bidding team were:^[16]

Reception

On 12 June 2015, a fan rally was held to highlight the Filipino spirit for basketball in the country at the parking area of the Smart Araneta Coliseum. It was held during the Independence Day of the Philippines. The event was attended by around 2,000 to 3,000 people. It was also attended by some members of the Philippines men's national basketball team, former national team member and captain Jimmy Alapag, then UCLA prospect Kobe Paras, and his father Benjie Paras.

Official Twitter and Facebook accounts were launched by July, a month before the host nation is announced. The #PUSO2019 hashtag was promoted and made trending as part of the campaign. “Dunkfies" where netizens posts selfies using a makeshift toy ring instead of a selfie stick also became trending in social media as part of the #PUSO2019 campaign. A campaign similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, "Para sa Pinas" (For the Philippines) was also conducted where fans express support though video and calling others to do the same.^[17]

Aftermath

In January 2016, after losing the bid to China, the Philippines expressed its interest to bid for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup along with another country. It is being considered whether to make a joint bid for the 2023 tournament with Malaysia, Singapore or South Korea.^[18] The country was also awarded the hosting rights of one of the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men on 19 January 2016.^[19]

On 30 June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as the 16th President of the Philippines at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, succeeding Benigno Aquino III.

References

International men's basketball
FIBA National teams Olympics World Cup Universiade U-21 World Championship U-19 World Championship U-17 World Championship World Rankings
Africa	FIBA Africa – AfroBasket U-18 U-16
Americas	FIBA Americas – FIBA Americas Championship U-18 U-16
Asia	FIBA Asia – FIBA Asia Cup U-18 U-16
Europe	FIBA Europe – EuroBasket U-20 U-18 U-16
Oceania	FIBA Oceania – FIBA Oceania Championship U-20 U-18 U-16
Other tournaments	Acropolis Tournament Adecco Cup Albert Schweitzer Tournament African Games Asian Games Commonwealth Games Belgrade Trophy Diamond Ball FIBA Asia Challenge FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament Lusophony Games Marchand Cup Mediterranean Games MVP Cup Stanković Cup Pan American Games Pan Arab Games South American Championship South Asian Games TBF International Under-16 Tournament William Jones Cup World Cup (Turkey)
Note: The Under-21 Championship is no longer held.