Two officials from FIBA Europe, Radmila Turner Head of NF´s & Sport/Youth & Anti-Doping Europe and Lena Lisiecki Events Coordinator in FIBA Europe, visited Kosovo from 17 until 19 September.
The purpose of this visit was to watch upclose the sixth game of Eurobasket 2017 Qualifiers between Kosovo and Bulgaria. The game took place on Saturday at 20:00h, at the “Minatori” hall, in Mitrovica.
Turner and Lisiecki were satisfied with the organizational part of the game.
Also during their stay in Kosovo, the two officials from FIBA Europe met with the President of KBF, Erolld Belegu and Secretary General, Leart Hoxha and discussed the experiences that our Federation gained during our historical debut in Eurobasket 2017 Qualifiers, and also the appearance of our Youth National Teams in the European Championships (both competitions).
In their meeting they also discussed the possibility of KBF organizing next year the U18 European Championship Division C in men's competition. Turner and Lisiecki together with KBF’s officials visited sports and accommodation facilities in Prishtina in order to see if Kosovo has the capacity to host such an event. After returning to Munich the two officials will make a joint evaluation, which will be presented to FIBA Europe and decide whether the U18 European Championship should take place in our country.
Meanwhile on Sunday (September 18) Turner and Lisiecki held a Workshop on preparing, hosting and promoting big events such as World Cup Qualifiers. 32 teams will compete in the Qualifiers for World Cup 2017 whereas only 12 teams from Europe will qualify for World Cup “China 2019”. 24 teams competing in "Eurobasket 2017" are automatically part of the 32 teams that will compete for the World Cup Qualifiers "China 2019", beginning next year in November.
In August 2017, all other National Teams that are not participating in the "Eurobasket 2017" can compete for eight other places available, to join the 32 teams that are participating in the Qualifiers. Depending on the number of the teams, we will know the exact number of groups and the game schedule. The draw will be held in January or February next year.