The Fiba Europe division of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has awarded hosting rights for the men’s EuroBasket 2021 tournament to Germany, Czech Republic, Georgia and Italy, while France and Spain will co-host the women’s event.
The decisions were made by the Fiba Europe board, which heard presentations from seven different nations for the men’s event. Multi-hosting was in effect in both 2015 (Croatia; Germany; France; Latvia) and 2017 (Finland; Israel; Romania; Turkey), before the event switched from a two-year to a four-year cycle, following the introduction of Fiba’s New Competition System.
This strategy will remain in place for 2021, with Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia all missing out on the hosting rights, with Fiba Europe stating “impressive bids” were put forward by all seven nations.
Germany has been awarded both the Group Phase, to be played in Cologne, and the Final Phase to be played in Berlin. Prague (Czech Republic), Tbilisi (Georgia), and Milan (Italy) will each stage Group Phase games.
Fiba Europe president Turgay Demirel said: “We are extremely happy with the decision to continue our tradition of multi-hosting. The 2021 edition will bring both experience and new ideas with Germany already hosting the EuroBasket four times, most recently in the Group Phase of the 2015 edition, and Georgia coming in as a first-time organiser. All four co-hosts are passionate basketball nations.”
A total of four bids were lodged for the Women’s EuroBasket 2021, with France and Spain’s joint bid preferred over proposals from Sweden and Ukraine.
Lyon and Valencia will be the two venues for the Group Phase and the Quarter-Finals. The Semi-Finals, the Third Place Game and the Final will all be played in Paris. The host venues will be Palais des Sports de Gerland, Lyon; Pavelló Fuente de Sant Lluis, Valencia; and Bercy Arena, Paris.
The 37th edition of the Women’s EuroBasket took place this month in Latvia and Serbia. Spain defeated France in the final.
Demirel said: “France and Spain are at the forefront of women’s basketball in Europe, as evidenced by the fact they have met in the finals of the past two editions of the Fiba Women’s EuroBasket. We are very happy with the decision to have the two best European basketball nations co-host this flagship event.”
The most recent edition of the men’s EuroBasket took place in 2017 and was co-hosted by Turkey, Finland, Israel and Romania.
