Georgia to co-host European continent’s “major basketball event” EuroBasket next week
Georgia, while hosting the “basketball festival” EuroBasket, will also celebrate Georgian basketball's 100th anniversary, which the Federation called a “pleasant symbolic coincidence”. Photo: Georgian Basketball Federation.
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Tbilisi will be in the centre of the world’s attention during the festive days of basketball, while co-hosting the European continent’s major basketball event FIBA EuroBasket 2022 for the first time in history, along with Czech Republic, Italy and Germany, the Georgian Basketball Federation announced on Saturday.
The Competition for Division A games will run between September 1-7, where the national teams of Georgia, Spain, Türkiye, Belgium, Bulgaria and Montenegro will hold matches at the newly completed Sports Palace in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Photo: Georgian Basketball Federation.
The Federation said that the European Championship has been an “important worldwide event", bringing together “hundreds of thousands” fans in the host cities and millions watching on TV, which would make Tbilisi a sports tourism centre in September, along with co-hosting cities of Milan, Cologne, Berlin and Prague.
“Well-known” sports journalists and bloggers, as well as fans of the participating teams, high-ranking guests and government delegations will visit Tbilisi during the tournament.
Georgia, while hosting the “basketball festival” EuroBasket, will also celebrate Georgian basketball's 100th anniversary, which the Federation called a “pleasant symbolic coincidence”.
Holding the European Championship in Georgia creates a great opportunity for the national basketball team of Georgia to achieve a significant sporting result at home, together with the fans of Georgia”, the Federation said in the statement.
The official fan zone of the EuroBasket will open on Wednesday at Rike Park in the centre of Tbilisi, featuring:
- Official opening - August 31
- Stage activities - August 31 - September 7
- Georgian Basketball 100-year history alley
- 3X3 basketball games
- Fanshop
- Sponsor spaces and activities
- Food spaces
- Children’s entertainment spaces
- Electronic sports spaces
- Photo exhibition
- Giant hashtag - #EUROBASKET
- Branded air balloon of Rike park
- Lighting of the bridge and Tbilisi TV tower in EuroBasket, purple and blue colours
- Big screens for fans to watch games
The fan zone will feature the official EuroBasket mascot Dj Bounce.
An additional fan zone will be arranged at the adjacent area of Tbilisi State University Library.
Georgia’s national basketball team defeated the Netherlands in the second round of a match for the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers on Wednesday at the newly completed Sports Palace in capital Tbilisi.
The National Bank of Georgia has issued a 5 Lari denomination silver collector coin dedicated to Eurobasket 2022, which will be available for pre-orders starting on Monday, the Bank announced on Saturday.
The International Basketball Federation, led by its Secretary General Kamil Novak, has praised the progress of the construction of a new sports complex in Tbilisi, slated to host the FIBA Eurobasket competition’s group stage matches this year.
Georgia will co-host the 2021 edition of EuroBasket, a major continental competition involving 32 teams from Europe, in summer of 2022, an update of International Basketball Federation calendar has revealed.
Georgia’s national basketball team was defeated by Italy in the second round of a match for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers on Saturday in northern Italy’s city of Brescia.
The Georgian national basketball team will play the first match of this year’s EuroBasket competition with a fixture against Belgium on Thursday, with the newly completed Tbilisi Arena in capital Tbilisi to host the opening game.
Ilias Zouros, the Georgian national basketball team head coach, on Sunday talked about the “pride of the nation” in the squad after its first win of the EuroBasket competition over Türkiye on Sunday.
The official, “unforgettable”, fan zone of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 officially opened on Wednesday at Rike Park in the centre of Tbilisi, with the opening ceremony featuring a special program and a concert, the Georgian Basketball Federation said.