FIBA have announced that they will name the four wildcard spots for the 2014 World Cup of Basketball over the weekend of 1-2 February.
The list of candidates will be shortened at the next meeting, scheduled for the weekend of the 23-24 November of this year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The draw for the World Cup itself will be made on February 3.
The qualification process came to an end last Sunday at Eurobasket with six confirmed European nations joining countries from the other four FIBA zones, Africa, Americas, Asia and Oceania.
A number of nations missed out to qualify for the World Cup to be held in Spain next year. Nations included on this list are Russia, Turkey, Greece, China and Brazil.
The wildcard spots are determined by several aspects that include promotion; the popularity of the sport; and the possible impact of participation following the tournament.
The economic aspects include the importance of the FIBA World Cup plus the involvement of TV broadcasters and the governance aspect includes the work carried by the bidder’s basketball federation and the number of activities that nation carries out.
The teams that have qualified for next year’s FIBA World Cup:
1 Host Country: Spain
1 Olympic Champion: USA
3 teams from Africa: Angola, Egypt and Senegal
4 teams from Americas: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Dominican Republic
3 teams from Asia: Iran, Philippines and Korea
6 teams from Europe: France, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Serbia
2 teams from Oceania: Australia and New Zealand
