Macedonia Eyes Hosting Basketball Championship

The candidacy was logical after the sucess of the national team, authorities say | Photo by: gov.mk

Macedonia's Basketball Federation, KFM, has filed its candidacy to the International Basketball Federation, FIBA and is soon expecting FIBA representatives to evaluate its readiness to stage the competition in early July, immediately before the olympics in London.
 
But all eyes are on whether the government will underwrite the €3.5 million needed to guarantee that Macedonia's candidacy will stand a chance against three other contestants, Lithuania, Venezuela and Angola.

Daniel Dimovski, head of the KFM, said the government needs to help the bid come true. He says Macedonia's candidacy was a "logical step" after the national team unexpectedly came fourth in the Eurobasket tournament in September.

“We are talking about a mini-world tournament with 12 participants,” Dimovski says, arguing that the promotion of a country that has rarely ever staged major sporting events is a priceless opportunity.

“Almost 200 countries will convey live broadcasts and with all the teams and visitors we can safely assume a substantial financial feedback,” he says.

Later this month a team from FIBA is due to visit the country to check its capacities. Dimovski says that by then, the Macedonians will have to provide some financial guarantees that might prove crucial for the impression they wish to make.

Reaching the semi-finals in the Eurobasket was the biggest success in Macedonia’s sporting history. The triumph immediately made basketball a focus of national attention as Macedonians rubbed their eyes in disbelief about how well they had done.
 
Two years ago the national basketball team won only two matches, coming ninth in the tournament.

So far the government has been quiet about whether it will support the KFM's bid. On Thursday Balkan Insight was unable to get a comment from the government on whether it was mulling jumping in with a financial guarantee.

But the government has been vocal in its support for the national team. The government paid to send hundreds of fans to Lithuania and staged a hero’s welcome for the team on its return.

The government also rewarded the players with several thousand euros each while the president honored them with a medal.

By winning fourth place in the Eurobasket, Macedonia automatically qualified for the next tournament. But only the first two teams from the Eurobasket travel straight at the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in London from July 27 to August 12.