By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Philippines will be the country that will replace New Zealand in the Olympic Qualifying tournament of Belgrade, FIBA announced. New Zealand announced its withdrawal from the tournament due to “the spike in the number of high performance events and the costs of sending teams abroad,” choosing to focus on the upcoming Asia Cup and a pursuit of a spot in the future World Cup and Olympic tournaments.
Belgrade’s Olympic Qualifiers (29/6 – 4/7) will feature hosts Serbia, Puerto Rico and Philippines in Group A plus Italy, Puerto Rico and Senegal in Group B. One national team will advance to the Tokyo’s Olympic Games.
Per FIBA:
Following the announcement of the National Federation of New Zealand to withdraw from the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 – Belgrade, Serbia and the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, FIBA has decided to replace New Zealand by the following teams, according to the respective rankings:
- Philippines will replace New Zealand at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia as the next best team from the Asia-Oceania Region in the FIBA World Ranking Men presented by Nike;
- New Zealand will be replaced at the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2021 by the next best eligible team as per qualification system in the men’s FIBA 3×3 Federation Ranking. The team will be officially announced after confirmation from the related national federation.
FIBA will evaluate the situation and decide upon potential further actions regarding New Zealand’s withdrawal at a later stage.