FIBA has announced that it will scrap the wild cards allocation system and that early February announcement of the four wild card winners will be the last, just days after Italian Basketball Federation withdrew their nominations claiming the procedure involved unfair financial criteria which favoured the wealthy federations.
The 2014 FIBA Baskebtall World Cup will mark the last time that a system of attribution of wild cards is called into play.
Under its new system of competition and calendar which comes into effect in 2017, FIBA will ensure that the best teams qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup over the course of a qualification phase taking place over 18 months.
The fourteen teams are claiming the four wild cards, with the winners being announced early February, are:
Editor’s note: After we posted the article, the German Basketball Federation also withdrew their candidancy, citing “procedural reasons”.
China
Brazil
Venezuela
Canada
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Turkey
Russia
Greece
Finland
Italy
Germany
Israel
Poland
Nigeria
Qatar
