In international basketball, the senior men’s national teams of the countries that are members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport’s worldwide governing organization, compete in a tournament called variously as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA World Cup of Basketball, or the FIBA World Cup. It is FIBA’s most prestigious tournament.
The event is organized similarly to the FIFA World Cup, but not exactly. From 1970 to 2014, both tournaments were held annually. Every four years, FIBA also hosts a similar tournament for women’s nations, which is now called the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Starting in 1986 and continuing through 2014, both the men’s and women’s championships took place in the same year but in separate nations. There are currently 32 teams playing for the championship at different locations within the host country. The Naismith Cup has been given to the champion squad since 1967. Spain won the 2019 event after beating Argentina in the final.
After 2014’s men’s and women’s FIBA championships, the men’s World Cup was put on a new four-year rotation to prevent overlap with the FIFA World Cup. The men’s tournament took place in 2019, the year after the FIFA World Cup. After 2014, the women’s title was rebranded as the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup; however, the tournament’s four-year schedule would not change, and the tournament would continue to be held in the same year as the FIFA World Cup.
The first FIBA World Cup competition to allow active NBA players from the United States who had also appeared in an official NBA regular season game was the 1994 tournament, which was hosted in Canada. Since then, every FIBA World Championship/World Cup has been played at the highest competitive level.
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023
From August 25th to September 10th, 2023, the countries of Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia will hold the 19th annual FIBA Basketball World Cup. The host cities for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 are Jakarta in Indonesia, Okinawa in Japan, and Manila in the Philippines.
Throughout the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, which spanned 15 months and featured 80 teams from four areas (Asia and Oceania, Africa, the Americas, and Europe) competing against each other in six windows, 32 men’s national teams were chosen as qualified to compete in the ultimate championship.
The first opportunity occurred in late November of 2021, and four more will be available in 2022. On February 27th, the final spot was finally given out. The World Cup will do more than just crown a winner; it will also give out Olympic qualification slots for the 2024 Games in Paris!
When the World Cup is over, the top seven teams from each area will have qualified for the tournament by finishing in the top spots in their individual rankings. They’ll be split up like this:
- The Americas get two.
- The European Union gets two
- Count one for Africa
- One for the Asian continent
- And one for Oceania
With France’s automatic qualification as hosts, the other five places at Paris 2024 will be decided by a series of two-stage Olympic qualifying tournaments.
The history of FIBA Basketball World Cup
To play basketball internationally, you need to be a part of the International Basketball Association, or FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball). On June 18th, 1932, two years after the sport was formally recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the organization was established in Geneva (IOC). It was formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur.
A total of eight countries were charter members: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. James Naismith (1861-1939), the creator of basketball, was chosen FIBA’s Senior President at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Since 1950, FIBA has managed the annual FIBA Basketball World Cup and, beginning in 1953, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Each competition is now conducted every four years to coincide with the Olympic Games.
In 1989, FIBA made it possible for pros like NBA stars from the United States to compete in the Olympics. This marked the official rebranding of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur as the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, though the organization still goes by its familiar name, FIBA.
The original location of the Federation’s offices was in Geneva, but in 1956 it was relocated to Munich.
On June 18th, 2013, in Mies, a district of Geneva, the 81st annual House of Basketball tournament was launched. This was a huge step forward for basketball on a global scale and a historic moment for the sport’s legal authority.
The Naismith Arena is an exhibition and event space covering 1,000 square meters that are devoted to basketball fans of all ages and serve to safeguard and promote the sport’s cultural legacy. There is a large collection of basketball-related artifacts, literature, and memorabilia on display, and the museum serves as a memorial to the people who contributed to the development of the sport (Hall of Fame).
Naismith Trophy
The Naismith Cup, called after basketball hero James Naismith, has been presented annually to the tournament’s winner since 1967. After getting a US$1,000 donation in 1965, FIBA eventually commissioned a trophy that had been in the works since the first World Championship in 1950.
Before being replaced in 1994, the original cup had been in circulation since 1967. For the 1998 FIBA World Championship, a new cup was unveiled, and the old one is now on display at the Pedro Ferrándiz Foundation in Spain.
The second trophy is also shaped like a lotus, but it takes inspiration from ancient Egyptian art, and it features carved images of the continents and valuable stones representing the five regions (FIBA Americas represents both North and South America). In addition to the Latin, Arabic, Chinese, and Egyptian hieroglyphs, Dr. Naismith’s name is inscribed on all four faces. The prize has a height of 47 centimeters (18.5 inches) and a mass of 9 kilos (twenty pounds).
During May 7th, 2017’s FIBA World Cup Qualification Draw Events, the newest Naismith Trophy design was revealed. About 60 centimeters tall (13 centimeters taller than the 1998 iteration), the trophy is almost completely made of gold and bears the names of past World Cup winners at its base.
The phrase “Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur” (the initial name of FIBA) is also carved at the “basket” of the prize. The silversmith Thomas Lyte created the award after it was created by Radiant Studios Ltd.
Description: The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is the highest authority in the sport worldwide. It has been around since 1932 and now represents 212 different National Basketball Federations.
