So the biggest basketball show is coming home.
Yes, the Philippines will host the 2023 World Cup for the first time since 1978 alongside Indonesia and Japan and the entire nation is celebrating.
It comes as no surprise as the Philippines is considered as a basketball country.
The Philippines has been knocking on FIBA’s doors as early as 2015 where they bid for the 2019 World Cup. The country became finalists along with China, but the world’s governing body in basketball awarded the hosting rights to the Chinese, owing to their readiness, the infrastructure and venues available and their capability of hosting multi-sporting events such as the Olympics and the FIBA Asia Championships, which it hosted several times.
This time, there’s no denying the Filipinos from seeing the world’s best players playing in the world’s biggest basketball event.
The Philippines has come a long way in terms of staging major international events.
Back in 1978, the country staged the World Basketball Championship in two venues — the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and the Araneta Coliseum.
Nearly 40 years since the last hosting of the event, these two venues will certainly need major upgrading.
Rizal Memorial, which can accommodate 8,000 spectators, is definitely out as among the venues to consider.
The Araneta Coliseum remains to be the centerpiece of sports and entertainment, but as far as FIBA is concerned, the venue should also be upgraded and meet certain standards. When the country bid for the hosting of the 2019 World Cup, the Big Dome didn’t made the requirements set by the world’s basketball federation.
Of course, there are two more venues that can be considered — the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The MOA Arena was the site of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship where the Philippines placed runner-up and made its way back to the world stage.
Philippine Arena, on the other hand, has hosted major events, most notably the PBA games.
Last October, the Philippine Arena drew 54,086 fans who watched Game 7 of the Finals series between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
Of course, Filipino fans expect to see Gilas Pilipinas holding their own against the world’s best.
The Philippines, which played in the 1978 World Championship by virtue of the country hosting the event, failed to win any games.
Through the years, the Filipinos had improved by leaps and bounds.
In its return to the world stage in 2014, the Philippines, coached by Chot Reyes, was able to push its rivals to the limit, making things difficult for powerhouse teams like Argentina and Puerto Rico before winning over Senegal.
There’s still enough time to prepare for the 2023 World Cup and by then, our young PBA players like Kiefer Ravena, Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abvueva would probably be joined by the future of Philippine basketball like 6-foot-9 AJ Edu and 6-foot-10 Kai Sotto.
We could only hope for great things to come. For now, let’s savor the great news.
Rey Joble has been covering the PBA games formore than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association.
