FIBA Europe have issued a statement clarifying that a decision on the new venues put forward by the Slovenian Basketball Federation and Local Organising Committee are still pending.
The two groups originally announced on Tuesday that it had got two venues for the 2013 Eurobasket tournament in place. In Celje and the Tivoli Arena in the capital Ljubljana.
FIBA Europe though have replied back saying that no agreement has been reached at this point.
“In order to avoid any confusion I would like to stress that the announcements on Tuesday were made unilaterally,” FIBA Europe President Olafur Rafnsson said.
“We are surprised that such statements were made without prior communication and consent from our side.”
FIBA Europe delegates had visited both venues in July and have kept in constant touch with the LOC in Slovenia regarding the status of those two arenas. But while it hasn’t been ruled out that Celje and Trivoli Arena will host first round games at next year’s Eurobasket, a final decision has definitely not been reached.
Final approval of the two venues is expected to made in September.
The venues were scheduled to be in Novo Mesto, Jesenice, Ptuj and Koper with Ljubljana to hold the second and final rounds at the Stozice Arena. Novo Mesto and Ptuj decided to cancel their bids before the Olympics began, leaving the LOC and SBF with a lot of work to be done.
“While we do not set the world on fire at most sports, we consider basketball as our own,” a Slovenian-based journalist said via email. “Slovenia is very passionate about its basketball and we want to show everyone just how much we love it and for the rest of Europe to share it with us. Unfortunately, we haven’t got off to a good start.”
Eurobasket 2013 is due to run from September 4-22.
