MANILA: Qatar was named host of the 2027 men’s Basketball World Cup on Friday, burgeoning its reputation for staging major global sports events.

Germany will hold the women’s version in 2026, basketball’s governing body International Basketball Federation (FIBA) said.

Qatar hosted the men’s football World Cup in November-December and will now stage basketball’s showpiece tournament for the first time.

All matches will be held at existing venues in the capital Doha.

“We are very happy to be able to award the Basketball World Cup 2027 to Qatar,” said FIBA president Hamane Niang.

The draw for the 2023 men’s Basketball World Cup takes place on Saturday in the Philippine capital Manila.

The Philippines, Indonesia and Japan will host this year’s World Cup from Aug 25 to Sept 10.

Qatar were not among the 32 teams who qualified. Spain are the reigning world champions.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023