THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has hit the ground running in its preparations for the country’s co-hosting of the FIBA World Cup next year.
Ramping up its planning, the cage body completed the Strategic Planning Session of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) over the weekend at the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas
SBP chairman emeritus and FIBA Central Board member Manny V. Pangilinan said the federation is working hard to prove it has what it takes in staging the World Cup along with Japan and Indonesia from August 10 to September 25, 2023.
“The FIBA World Cup is not just any other event as this is the biggest tournament in world basketball,” Pangilinan said.
“We will be exhausting all our efforts and resources to prove to the world that the Philippines can organize and host the world’s biggest sporting events,” he added.
Preparations began immediately after the FIBA announced that the joint bid of the three Asian countries was chosen over the Argentina-Uruguay bid in December of 2017.
This included visits to different venues in China for their hosting of the 2019 World Cup.
The day-and-a-half planning session formalized the completion of the LOC with the gathering of personalities, all experts in their respective fields, working closely together to host the best World Cup in history.
The event was attended by the top brass of the SBP led by Pangilinan, president Al Panlilio, executive director Sonny Barrios, executive advisor to the president Ricky Vargas, and special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio.
