100,000 to witness FIBA W Cup opener?

MANILA, Philippines - SBP executive director Sonny Barrios has broached the idea of scheduling games from different preliminary groups in a proposed opening program for the 2019 FIBA World Cup if and when the Philippines hosts the tournament with the promise of a record attendance of 100,000.

Barrios mentioned the possibility to the FIBA Evaluation Commission that was recently in town to inspect the facilities and review the plans in line with the country’s bid to host the 2019 World Cup. He said the Commission appeared receptive to the concept which he described as “out-of-the-box.”

In the FIBA World Cup, games of each group in the preliminary stage are usually held in separate venues. Last year in Spain, group games were staged in Bilbao, Seville, Granada and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

Barrios said a mammoth crowd for the opening games of the World Cup would set the tone for the 32-nation competition. “Assuming the US and the Philippines are in different groups, we could schedule their first games in the same venue on opening day,” he said. “We’re thinking of the Philippine Arena and selling tickets for two separate games so that 50,000 will watch the US game and another 50,000 will watch the Philippine game. On the first day, we could set a new record for combined attendance of 100,000.”

Barrios said the idea was mentioned to the Commission during an inspection tour of the 55,000-seat Philippine Arena. “The Commission was concerned that it would be a logistics nightmare to move 50,000 out for one game and move another 50,000 in for another game,” said Barrios. “But Attorney Bong Teodoro of the Philippine Arena assured the Commission it’s not a problem because when the Iglesia Ni Cristo held its Centennial celebration at the Bulacan complex, there were over 2 million people and movement was orderly. I think the Commission was quite impressed.”

  Barrios said under FIBA rules, the host country is not allowed to choose its group in the preliminary stage. The privileges are restricted to picking the schedule and where to play. Group composition is determined by a draw.  

 The plan is to use the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Mall of Asia Arena and the to-be-constructed SM Cebu Arena and the Solaire Arena for the preliminary games. The 32 teams will be split into four teams in eight groups. Two groups will be assigned to one venue. The opening program and the finals could be held at the Philippine Arena. An option is to set the games of the preliminary group of either the US or the Philippines at the Philippine Arena.

At the 2012 London Olympics, the third place game and the final were played in the same O2 Arena back-to-back but organizers sold different tickets for each contest. The audience for the third place game between Russia and Argentina was ushered out before the gates reopened for the championship match between the US and Spain. At the FIBA World Cup in Spain last year, the third place game was played the day before the final.

Barrios said FIBA is keying on three elements in determining the choice of the country to host the 2019 World Cup. The first is infrastructure, the second is government support and the third is private sector involvement.

“At the moment, China, whom I consider to be our toughest competitor, has the edge in infrastructure because two of our facilities will still be finished in 2018,” said Barrios. “At the bidders’ briefing in Madrid last year, FIBA set the requirement of a minimum of four venues for the preliminary stage but China boasted that it can offer eight arenas to cover for the eight different groups. As for government support, we are optimistic.  FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann and the Evaluation Commission met several top government officials during their recent visit. The private sector involvement is guaranteed with the MVP Group taking the lead.”

Baumann and the Commission were assured of government support in meeting high-level officials, including Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Franklin Drilon, House Speaker Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, Sen. Grace Po, Sen. Cynthia Villar, Rep. Robbie Puno, Rep. Abigail Binay, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Deputy Executive Secretary Teofilo Pilandro, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson and PAGCOR CEO Cristino Naguiat.

Barrios said FIBA has set a deadline of April 30 for the bidding countries to submit their final candidature files. Each country is expected to make a 20-minute presentation before the FIBA Central Board in Geneva on June 18-19. The winning bidder will be announced at the end of the FIBA Central Board meeting.