The Georgian Basketball Federation extended its gratitude on Friday to the Georgian Government, sponsors, fans, media, volunteers and everyone involved in the organisation of the games of Group A of FIBA EuroBasket 2022 in the capital city of Tbilisi for the first time.
Tbilisi was at the centre of the world’s attention during its co-hosting of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, the European continent’s major basketball event, between September 1-7. The games of the competition’s Group A, between the national teams of Georgia, Spain, Türkiye, Belgium, Bulgaria and Montenegro, were held in the newly completed 10,000 spectator-capacity multifunctional Tbilisi Arena complex, the construction of which was completed this year. Spain, Türkiye, Belgium and Montenegro qualified from group A, as Georgia and Bulgaria could not earn a ticket for the next stage.
Photo: GBF.ge
The Federation believed that the European Championship has been an “important worldwide event" for the country, bringing together “hundreds of thousands” fans in the host city and millions watching on TV, making Tbilisi a sports tourism centre in September, along with co-hosting cities of Milan, Cologne, Berlin and Prague. GBF also said the “well-known” sports journalists and bloggers, as well as fans of the participating teams, high-ranking guests and government delegations visited Tbilisi during the tournament.
The FIBA on Friday also twitted thanks to all the capital cities, which co-hosted the EuroBasket, including the capital city of Tbilisi.
Danke, grazie, děkujeme, გმადლობთ
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 9, 2022
Cologne ????????
Milan ????????
Prague ????????
Tbilisi ????????#EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise pic.twitter.com/WPPzYLYi7O
Georgia, while hosting the “basketball festival” EuroBasket, has also celebrated Georgian basketball's 100th anniversary, which the Federation called a “pleasant symbolic coincidence”.
Recently this year, the International Basketball Federation has awarded the Georgian Basketball Federation for “excellent organisation” of the FIBA Under 20 European Basketball Championship for Division B, the GBF said. Besides, International FIBA tournaments, such as the 3×3 U18 European Championship and U16 Challengers between boys and girls, had taken place in Tbilisi earlier, with the U20 championship also marking a step-up in scale.