China makes history again, as the world's most populous nation is announced as the FIBA World Cup 2019 host country. They promised that they can "make basketball the most popular sport in the world."
It is the first time that China will be the FIBA World Cup 2019 host country after welcoming the world in big sporting events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, Chinese media Xinhua News reported.
China reportedly won 14 votes from the FIBA decision-making body, over seven votes for the other bidder, Sporting News said.
"China is the most populous country in the world and we can make basketball the most popular sport in the world," Beijing vice-mayor and China 2019 bid chairman Zhang Jiandong said in the report by HostCity.net.
The other bidder, the Philippines boasted its huge basketball fan base around the world and its growing economy, as well as its social media prowess. However, the Southeast Asian nation lost the bidding.
The FIBA World Cup 2019 host country will have more cities with venues to accommodate the big crowd. The cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuhan, Foshan, Nanjing and Dongguan will be the FIBA World Cup 2019 host cities in the country.
New venues are reportedly set to be constructed in Foshan and Suzhou as part of the FIBA World Cup 2019 host country's efforts to step up the game.
NBA superstar Yao Ming was also present during the announcement.
"You can't say that one type of love is better than the other," he said in the report. "Both are great. Both countries have a great passion for basketball, particularly for FIBA basketball."
"We believe that we can make the 2019 FIBA World Basketball Cup a complete success because of China's economic stability, strong financial guarantee and the government's complete support," the China 2019 bid committee head said. "We can make it a safe, most reliable and risk-free event."
Basketball fans are about to see how the FIBA World Cup 2019 host country will deliver the games.
