BASKETBALL – Bahrain is being backed to continue as hosts of a Fiba 3x3 World Tour event for “a lot of years” to come.
International Basketball Federation (Fiba) 3x3 director Alex Sanchez said yesterday that the kingdom’s World Tour event held the past three years has been “very successful”, and that Fiba would be happy to continue holding tournaments on the island in the future.
Fiba initially signed a three-year agreement with the Bahrain Olympic Committee in 2022 to stage basketball’s biggest 3x3 series, and this year’s Manama Final – taking place today and tomorrow at Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) as the season-ending event of the 2025 World Tour calendar – marks the culmination of that deal.
“We want to be here,” Sanchez said yesterday during a Press conference at BFH ahead of the Manama Final. “From our perspective, we would like to stay here – this event is very successful.
“The fact that Bahrain got a 3x3 silver medal recently in the third Asian Youth Games for sure proves that this event is helping Bahrain sports to be successful.
“In my opinion, there is no reason not to stay here for a lot of years. We hope this event is good enough to convince our hosts and the Olympic committee that we deserve to stay here for a long, long time. Inshaallah.”
The kingdom first hosted the World Tour in 2023, when the inaugural Manama Masters took place. The same event was held in 2024, and this year, Bahrain has been given the prestigious honour to host the World Tour finale.
The event has not only made a positive impact on Bahrain sports, but also in other sectors as well.
Tourism Minister and Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) chairperson Fatima bint Jaafar Al Sairafi said that the World Tour is a major part of the kingdom’s sports tourism drive, which represents a key pillar of the nation’s Tourism Strategy 2022-26.
“An international championship has a significant media outreach, and today, we have a number of international and regional outlets that are covering this event,” Al Sairafi said during yesterday’s conference. “That, in itself, showcases the capabilities of the kingdom when hosting such occasions.
“When we take a look at the economic impact on a macro level – and there has been a significant spike in the amount of sporting events that we are welcoming in the kingdom since we adopted our strategy back in 2022 – we are seeing that, year on year, the tourism revenue’s growth can be anywhere from 12 to 20 per cent. A significant part of that growth is directly related to the sporting events that are hosted in Bahrain.”
Al Sairafi added that holding successful sports events in Bahrain has helped attract returning visitors.
“One of the key performance indicators we look at is, when hosting a sporting event or any event, you predominantly want to make sure that the participants or spectators want to come back to the kingdom as a tourist,” the Tourism Minister explained. “We’ve seen that, across the years since we launched our strategy, this is what is happening in the kingdom, where we get to host people for a sporting event and we also get to see them back with their family and friends as well.”
Also in attendance at yesterday’s conference was Bahrain Basketball Association president Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
This weekend’s Manama Final features 14 of the best teams from this year’s World Tour, including two squads representing hosts Bahrain. They are long-time 3x3 powerhouses Riffa and series debutants Seef.
The field will be vying for a share of the total prize purse of more than $200,000.
Riffa are one of 11 outfits already in the group stage. They are in the same division as Ub from Serbia and Vienna from Austria. Pool B features Miami from the US along with Chongming and Hangzhou, both from China. Pool C comprises Amsterdam Rabobank from the Netherlands, Raudondvaris Hoptrans from Lithuania, and Partizan from Serbia; while Pool D is composed of Liman from Serbia, Toulouse from France, and one team that will book their berth from the qualifying draw.
Seef are in the qualifiers, where they will face Skyliners from Germany and Lugano from Switzerland for just one available berth in the tournament proper.
The qualification phase is to be held from 10am today, with the pool games starting from 3.10pm. The knockout rounds will take place tomorrow.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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