MIES (IBF) - The FIBA Foundation (IBF) has announced that the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) is to donate a 3x3 court – complete with backstop unit – to fellow national basketball federations and FIBA members Andorra, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Uruguay to support their continuous efforts in developing 3x3.
The QBF-funded initiative aims at helping those less-affluent federations who have excelled in growing the young urban discipline in spite of their scarce resources.
The 3x3 discipline is an ideal tool to address the challenges that may exist in urban areas in these countries. - QBF President H.E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani
These various development plans implemented by the federations of Andorra, Uganda and Uruguay have resulted in qualification to the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships in Moscow, Russia on 5-8 June 2014. In the meantime the Sri Lanka federation organised a challenger in 2015, a premium international tournament which directly qualified to the FIBA 3x3 World Tour to further fuel 3x3’s popularity in its territory.
"The Foundation followed with great interest the remarkable commitment of the federations of Andorra, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Uruguay to develop 3x3 in spite of their limited resources," told IBF President and FIBA 3x3 Advisory Board Chairman Yvan Mainini.
3x3 is a great opportunity for countries that do not have the same financial means or the same basketball tradition to grow the game and even find success in basketball - IBF President Yvan Mainini
"We wished to help them pursue their social activities in the future, hoping that their children stay active and grow up with the game of basketball and one day perhaps get a chance to represent their country at the Olympics playing 3x3."
IBF was founded in 2008 by FIBA to preserve and promote basketball’s values and its cultural heritage and has been active in corporate social responsibility projects. It recently came to aid of the Vanuatu Basketball Federation following the extreme damage left by tropical cyclone Pam.