FIBA welcomes basketball's inclusion in Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Bid

A successful bid by the Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games would see basketball among the list of sports, the team behind the Gold Coast bid have announced.

The move has been welcomed by FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Secretary General and International Olympic Committee member Patrick Baumann, who explained "basketball is one of the most widely played and viewed sports globally, and with such a strong talent pool in the Commonwealth I welcome this announcement from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Committee."

Explaining the addition of basketball to the list of sports, Gold Coast 2018 Bid Chairman Mark Stockwell added "we have assembled a program that we believe will provide spectators with a varied array of sports and competing countries with a number of different avenues to prove their abilities.

"Basketball is very much a global sport, and as such, we felt it would be a worthwhile addition to our prospective Commonwealth Games program."

If successful, the preliminary rounds of the basketball competition would be held in the cities of Cairns and Townsville, two cities that play host to successful Australian NBL teams, while the finals would be played at the Gold Coast Sports Arena located at the Southport Broadwater Parklands.

The only previous occasion when basketball was played as part of the Commonwealth Games was in 2006, when the games were held in Melbourne.

On that occasion, the men and women's podiums were carbon copies of each other, with Australia winning gold, New Zealand silver and England bronze.

The hosts for the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be announced at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly on 11th November 2011. 

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