By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The partner federations for all four FIBA EuroBasket 2022 hosts have been confirmed following the announcement of partnership agreements between Italy and Estonia, and Georgia and Turkey, as FIBA announced Wednesday.
The agreements will see Estonia drawn with Italy for the Group Phase in Milan, while Turkey will begin their campaign in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The two other partnerships that brought together Germany and Lithuania, and the Czech Republic and Poland were announced last month.
The partnership concept, already implemented with great success in 2015 and 2017, aims to assist in ticket sales by allowing each of the tournament hosts to select a partner federation, while respecting the draw seedings, to be drawn into the same group.
Giovanni Petrucci, the President of the Italian Basketball Federation, was excited about partnering with Estonia.
“Passion, vitality and organization are just a few of the strengths of the Estonian Basketball Federation, which has grown in the last years both on and off the court,” he said.
“In our two trips to Estonia in the Qualifiers, we’ve tested not only the great passion of Estonian people for basketball but also their desire to improve together as a team, which has been able to qualify for the next EuroBasket. What I’m hoping to see is the same warmth and excitement for sport which we witnessed with Estonian fans who filled the Tallinn Arena.”
The President of the Estonian Basketball Federation, Priit Sarapuu, shared the same sentiments.
“The Estonian Basketball Federation is truly honored to cooperate with Italy as one of the greatest basketball countries. This kind of partnership gives both nations additional opportunities to make more out of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022,” said Mr. Sarapuu.
“We are happy to work side by side with our Italian counterparts and we believe everyone benefits from the agreement – the organizers, the partners, the fans and the athletes.”
Meanwhile, the President of the Georgian Basketball Federation, Paata Guraspauli, expressed his pleasure to have entered into a partnership with Turkey.
“Turkey is our neighbor and friend country with a high level in sports and especially basketball. We are very pleased to be able to host their national team in Tbilisi,” said Mr. Guraspauli.
“Along with the fact that the national team is composed of top players and has demonstrated excellent results, Turkey has very enthusiastic and passionate fans who will adorn the newly built state-of-the-art arena in Tbilisi at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
“It’s noteworthy that there is a large Turkish diaspora in Georgia and many Turkish citizens in our country for business reasons. We are confident that our partnership agreement will be successful, and the Group Phase games will have many spectators.
“This partnership will be a good example for us to continue this close cooperation with the Turkish Basketball Federation in the future.”
Emin Balci, the Secretary General of the Turkish Basketball Federation, said: “We are content to establish a partnership with Georgia, as they are one of the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and our close neighbors. We believe we will be able to feel the support of our fans more closely and intensely. We set our sights on obtaining successful results for the Group Phase in Tbilisi.”
The FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Draw will take place on Thursday, April 29 at 13:00 CET at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin, Germany and will be livestreamed on the FIBA YouTube channel and the official FIBA EuroBasket Facebook page.
Photo: FIBA