By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The FIBA Intercontinental Cup is set to enter a new chapter of its long history in 2023, as FIBA and Sport Singapore have agreed to a three-year partnership that expands the event also to involve Asia for the first time and better reflects the modern club basketball landscape.
The Singapore Sports Hub is destined to become the first-ever venue in Asia to host the FIBA Intercontinental Cup as it will provide the stage for the 33rd edition of the event from September 21-24, 2023.
The competition will hence return to be staged in September so that it adapts more efficiently to the domestic and continental leagues’ calendar and the schedule of international players and to accommodate participating clubs better.
“This agreement serves both as the realization of a basketball dream that dates back generations as well as a launchpad into the future era of global club basketball. Singapore, as a melting pot of cultures, is perhaps the ideal place to bring that vision to life,” commented FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis.
“The first edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 1966 was an inspired event conceived by visionaries. They envisioned a competition that would assist in uniting different cultures through basketball but only dared to dream that one day the event would develop to the point where clubs from all corners of the globe compete in it,” Mr. Zagklis added.
The field of contenders is to expand from four to six teams, and in the September event in Singapore, a Chinese club jointly selected by FIBA and the Chinese Basketball Association will join four teams representing the same four continental leagues as in the past two editions. FIBA will announce the sixth participant in due course.
Those four teams will include the champions from the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL), a professional league featuring the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries operated in partnership between FIBA and the NBA, the champions of Basketball Champions League 2022-23, the champions of Basketball Champions League Americas 2022-23, and NBA G League Ignite, the team that was founded in 2020 to prepare top prospects for the NBA Draft.
“The FIBA Intercontinental Cup is an important showcase for top club teams from outside the NBA and reflects the strength of professional basketball leagues around the world,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. “We’re excited that NBA G League Ignite and the champions of the upcoming third season of the Basketball Africa League will be represented at this year’s tournament in Singapore, where we recently opened an office and where there is a growing affinity for the game,” Mr. Tatum added.
“Building on the success of the FIBA 3X3 Asia Cup 2022, which will return for another edition this month, we are happy to host the FIBA Intercontinental Cup that will treat fans here to world-class high-impact basketball action. Ranked top five in our annual National Sports Participation Survey, basketball has always been a popular sport among Singaporeans. The FIBA Intercontinental Cup will further enhance the interest and inspire more people, especially the youth, to play and watch the sport,” shared Mr. Toh Boon Yi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sport Singapore.
“Come September 2023, Singapore will once again showcase its capability and innovation to the international sporting community as we welcome athletes, officials, and fans from around the world. FIBA Intercontinental Cup will be an important addition to our events portfolio that advances our nation’s sporting, social and economic aspirations,” Mr. Toh added.
“We are delighted to be working with FIBA to host and organize Asia’s first FIBA Intercontinental Cup here in Singapore,” said Quek Swee Kuan, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Sports Hub. “Hosting the FIBA Intercontinental Cup reaffirms Singapore Sports Hub’s position as a premier destination for sporting events in Asia Pacific,” he added. “We look forward to welcoming the teams, officials, and fans to the Singapore Sports Hub for exciting hoop action this September.”
Spanish club Lenovo Tenerife is the current trophy holder after winning the 32nd edition of the competition, in which they competed as the 2021-22 Basketball Champions League winners. That was the second event in a row that featured the champions of continental leagues from four different world regions.
Real Madrid remains the most decorated club in competition history, having conquered the trophy on five occasions.