DOHA (Qatar): Qatar Basketball Federation (QBA) secretary general Ali Al Malki said that the State of Qatar is ready to host two back-to back international competitions.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup host will stage the Doha Masters tomorrow, part of the FIBA 3X3 World Tour.
The two-day event at the Gharafa Indoor Hall will feature teams from USA, Serbia, Latvia, Latvia and Philippines — $100,000 total prize money is at stake.
“Qatar is ready to host international, continental and local events,” Al Malki told Khelupdates.com in an exclusive interview.
“We are ready to welcome the players and officials who are here to take part in the Doha Masters, the FIBA World Tour 3×3 event. We have made all the arrangements and ready to deliver a safe environment. The safety and health is a priority for all of us.”
The 3X3 FIBA World Tour Doha Masters will be followed by the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers which was postponed due to coronavirus pandemic.
Qatar will be the centralized venue for remaining Groups B and E matches, which will be held following FIBA health protocols, including testing and controlled entry into a secure environment.
Group E teams include Qatar, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Iran will meet Saudi Arabia and Syria on November 28 and 30, respectively.
Speaking on the difficult times due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Qatari official said the bio bubble has proved successful in Qatar and expressed his confidence in the health personnel and others associated with the conduct of the tournament.
“These are challenging times. We have been following the strict measures by the Ministry of Health in Qatar,” added Al Malki.
Doha also to host 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers
Qatar are also hosting AFC Champions League East Zone football competition, which began on Wednesday. The 2022 FIFA World Cup country successfully hosted West Zone matches.
“I would like to thank Mr Ali and the entire staff at QBF, Qatar Olympic Committee and FIBA colleagues our partners and sponsors and suppliers,” said Ignacio Soriano, head of Events and partnership at FIBA.
Explaining the composition of the 3×3 Doha masters the FIBA official added: “We’re going to have 14 teams from all over the world including teams from USA we’re going to have teams from New York and from Princeton. We’re are having teams from Serbia from Germany from Latvia from Lithuania. The event is going to be broadcasted in over 100 countries worldwide and streamed via the FIBA official channels.”
The FIBA is confident that the Olympic Games debut in Tokyo will be game changer for the 3×3 event.
“The 3×3 event was to make its Olympic debut in the Tokyo 2020 games this summer which have been unfortunately postponed so we will be there next year 2021 and we hope to be to be a success,” he added.
Iran sit top of the group with four points, followed by Syria (three points), Saudi Arabia (three points) and Qatar (two points).
The decision to play both windows in bubbles, instead of home and away games, for men’s competitions, was confirmed by the FIBA Executive Committee last month after taking into consideration the health and safety of players, coaches, and officials, and following a recommendation from the Medical and Competitions Commissions.
Manama, Bahrain is set to host Groups A and D matches. Group A teams include Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. Group D teams include Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, and India.
Amman, Jordan will serve as the site for Group F matches. The teams in Group C include Jordan, Kazakhstan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka.
From the 24 teams participating in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, only 16 will advance to play in the Asia Cup in 2021. The top two teams in the standings from each group at the end of the three windows of the Qualifiers will earn direct qualification to the Asia Cup, resulting in 12 of the 16 teams.
