ImageLithuania, a die-hard basketball nation with a population of just more than three millions has found itself in a tough spot. Although Lithuania has sacrificed a lot to host Eurobasket 2011 they are now unable to come up with the sum needed to apply for a wild card, so prominent fans of Lithuania National Team have written a letter to FIBA pleading for a wild card and have launched a petition. Read the letter and find out where you can sign the petition.

The full letter, courtesy of Sarunas Gustainis, one of the authors of the letters whom TalkBasket contacted:

FIBA President
Mr. Bob Elphinston

Members of Central FIBA Board

12/09/2009
Vilnius

Dear President,
Dear Members of Central Board,

On behalf of several hundred thousand basketball fans in Lithuania we would like to kindly ask you to award Lithuanian basketball team with the wild card entrance to participate in Men's World Basketball Championship, 2010 in Turkey.

We believe that the honourable and highly deserved for basketball Federation will not underestimate the achievements of Lithuanian basketball teams in the world of basketball, even though some have experienced temporary setbacks.

As you might know, basketball is the most important and most popular sports game in Lithuania. This game attracts crowds of Lithuanian fans into basketball arenas in Lithuania, as well as abroad. The whole country lives from one basketball tournament to another. Colourful, a bit crazy and famous for their drums Lithuanian fans have been already known all over the world. The majority of the basketball lovers in other countries get jealous watching the huge crowds of Lithuanian fans at the games. Moreover, we are proud of all these legendary Lithuanian basketball players – Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Sarunas Jasikevicius and many more whose names are well known not only in Lithuania, but also to the basketball fans all around the world.

Being familiar with the situation in our country due to the financial crisis, we expect that neither the Government of Lithuania nor Lithuanian Basketball Federation will be able to find the necessary funds for the wild card. Although, we do believe that FIBA decisions are based not only on financial, but also on ideological criteria. Finally, if the financial criterion remains the only condition for the wild card, we assume we would gather enough basketball lovers among business representatives in Lithuania, who would help to collect the required amount of money.

With faith and trust in FIBA and its decisions, on behalf of tens of thousands of Lithuanian basketball fans who have already showed their support by signing (and will sign until 13th, Dec, 2009) the letter online ( http://www.peticijos.lt/visos/2980 ), we respectfully ask you to assess the Lithuanian merits for basketball and financial situation on our country, and give the national Lithuanian basketball team an opportunity to defend their honour and the honour of Lithuania, once again proving that Lithuania is the legendary basketball country.

Steering Group of Lithuanian basketball fans:

Tomas Balaisis (Sekla)
Gytis Anulis
Sarunas Gustainis
Arturas Mironcikas
Raimundas Lumbis
Edgaras Pocius

This is the Lithuanian fans' letter to FIBA. If you would like to support Lithuanian bid for a wild card you can show your support by signing the online petition at the following address: http://www.peticijos.lt/visos/2980

TalkBasket has been running a poll for the past few weeks on which European National Team  should get a wild card for 2010 FIBA World Championship and our readers (which come from over the world and powerful basketball nations such as USA, Spain and Greece) have decided: Lithuania! More specifically 53.8% of our readers would like to see Lithuania competing in Turkey next summer. So respecting the choice of our readers TalkBasket's administrative and editorial team is backing up Lithuania's bid for a wild card too.

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