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FIBA World Cup: Pacquiao joins Phl team in bid to host 2019 event

FIBA has shortlisted China and the Philippines as top contenders to host the 2019 world’s biggest basketball event after other countries in contention were previously eliminated. Both countries will make the final presentations in Tokyo, Japan where the FIBA board will announce which of the two countries will host the event.

The Philippine delegation is headed by Manny V. Pangilinan, the president of the Samahang Basletball ng Pilipinas. Joining him are celebrities Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division world champion and head coach of Kia Carnival of the Philippine basketball Association (PBA) and Lou Diamond Philips, a popular Filipino-American Hollywood actor.

Pangilinan acknowledged Pacquiao’s passion for the sport outside of boxing and his presence would be of great importance to the team.

“Manny’s passion for the sport is something he shares with every Filipino. We welcome his contribution to our efforts in Tokyo. We are delighted that he will join us as we showcase the Philippines’ plans to help Fiba take basketball to new heights and for the World Cup to transcend the sport as a worldwide media experience,” Pangilinan said.

“In the Philippines, basketball is life. It is part of our cultural fabric and the number one sport, which people throughout our country follow devotedly every day,” said Pangilinan during the delegation send-off.

The Philippines hosted the 2013 FIBA Asia championship and now the country is aiming to host the world championship for the first time since 1978.

“The opportunity to receive the honor of hosting the Fiba basketball World Cup would provoke extraordinary national pride,” he added.

“And as the social media capital of the world, that’s something that would inevitably be felt and talked about worldwide.” Pangilinan stressed.

During the on-site inspection visits early this year, the Philippines has shown that it has the facilities as well as the needed resources to host the gigantic 2019 world basketball event.

China is capitalizing on its readily available facilities and human resources to host big events like the FIBA World Cup in its bid to host the event in 2019.

“With more matches and more host cities in 2019, the FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the biggest ever,” the Chinese Basketball Association noted via FIBA.com. “To fully achieve this potential, the FIBA Basketball World Cup deserves the biggest stage ever. The People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Basketball Association will offer just that,” it added.

A decision on which country will host the 2019 FIBA World Cup is expected to be announced in Tokyo on August 7-9, 2015, when the FIBA board convenes.

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