HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 9 (acn) Cuban basketball will count with the support of FIBA (French acronym for the International Basketball Federation), said José Luis Sáez, member of FIBA Executive Committee, in the last activity of his visit to this city.
With headquarters in the Sports City Coliseum, the Spaniard Sáez gave a press conference in which he expressed that this support responds to the work Cuba has carried out for many years, stated JIT sports publication.
In that sense, he added that FIBA wants to contribute to the progress of Cuban basketball in accordance with new situations in the competitive calendar.
We have worked in countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Mexico and Brazil, and in addition to good performances in the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba has always had potential, love and passion for basketball and strong ties between the federation and the government. We believe that it can become in the future in a world reference, he noted.
On the new qualification system for the 2019 Men's World Cup in China, he recalled that it will begin in November next year and he wished to count with Cuban participation.
Regarding this last aspect, Baez said he had a fruitful exchange with José Ramón Fernández, head of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), and Antonio Becali, president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER by its Spanish acronym).
Alberto García, Executive Director of FIBA Americas, explained about the implementation of the World Cup calendar in which more than 150 of the 212 affiliated nations of FIBA will be involved.
The way to define the 32 teams, eight more than in the previous contest, will require six stages every three months, and there will be seven tickets for the Americas.
To complete the 16 teams of A Division, Cuba will play a repechage against Bahamas, Nicaragua, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia, scheduled to take place on June 2017 in search of four remaining berths.
United States and Canada, directly; Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama and the US Virgin Islands, by their seats in the Centrobasquet tournament; and Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Colombia by South America, already won their tickets for that stage.
On the qualification for the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020, it was confirmed the allocation of two direct berths for the American continent and the conduction of a world repechage for other possibilities.
Finally, it was reported that FIBA seeks to implement similar systems for the female sex and the popular 3x3 modality, the latter committed to accessing the Olympics.
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