China VS Philippines in 2019 FIBA World Cup bid

Basketball's governing body says the 2019 World Cup will be played in Asia, with China and the Philippines bidding to host the tournament.

FIBA's Central Board will decide in June who will host its flagship event, previously known as the world championship.

FIBA's Executive Committee met for the first time in 2015 on Thursday-Friday 12-13 March, with a number of important decisions and valuable information coming out of the two-day meeting.

Before the announcement, FIBA visited all the candidates which include 8 Chinese cities. On the press conference in Beijing, the delegation highly praised the facility and enthusiasm in China.

Looking ahead to future editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, it was confirmed that the 2019 event will be played in Asia with China and the Philippines as the two candidates left in the race to host it. FIBA's Central Board will make this final decision at its meeting in June. Meanwhile, Germany, Turkey and Qatar are the three bidding to stage the competition in 2023, with a decision on the host expected in 2016. The Evaluation Commission is expected to visit the bidding countries once the 2015 continental championships have concluded.

Instead of being played in 2018, the next tournament has been moved to 2019 and will be held from then on in four-year cycles. The new schedule will allow the event not to be played in the same years as soccer's World Cup.

The Executive Committee will reconvene on 16-17 June, before FIBA's Central Board holds a three-day meeting (18-20 June). The main topic on the agenda will be to determine the host for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.