The International Basketball Federation FIBA chose the organizers of the upcoming World Championships on Friday. The women’s 2026 Games will be held in Berlin, Germany, and the men’s 2027 Games will be held in Doha, Qatar.
At the end of last year, the men’s World Cup in Qatar received strong criticism for trampling on human rights as well as climate issues. The country has been accused of sports laundering, i.e. it has been found that it tries to burnish its reputation with the help of various sporting events, such as the men’s football championships.
Finnish member of the board of the International Basketball Federation FIBA Antti Zittingin only two applications were brought to the government that met the application criteria: Germany’s application for the women’s World Cup and Qatar’s application for the men’s World Cup.
– All in all, there have been several countries in both searches. European countries have dropped out along the way.
So what was it about Qatar’s application that impressed FIBA?
– First of all, it came by the deadline. Among other things, I brought up in the board that we have slightly different experiences with the direction of Qatar, but in the case of Qatar, they were very much related to the construction of the environment that happened around the World Cup. We already have all the arenas in basketball, which is one significant factor. The second is that all major halls are within a radius of 20-25 kilometers.
According to Zitting, Qatar has promised that the Games will be carbon neutral. The international association also praises Qatar’s location.
– 80 percent of the country’s population is six hours away from Qatar. In addition, Qatar has promised that all people are welcome to the Games.
The human rights situation spoke in the government
During the World Cup, Qatar made headlines mostly in a negative light. Died in the country between 2010 and 2020 between more than 6,500 guest workers (you move to another service), a large part of which is in construction work related to the Games. Qatar has been criticized for oppressing women and sexual and gender minorities, and in certain cases Islamic Sharia law is applied in the conservative Arab country, which includes alcohol consumption, adultery and homosexuality as crimes.
Zitting says that human rights were also discussed in the FIBA board.
– We have to remember that the world looks very different when you look at it from different angles. There are many countries at the corners of Qatar and if I have interpreted correctly, Qatar is not a country with the steepest direction, but has tried to be involved in world development in its own way.
In recent years, Qatar has made significant reforms to its legislation: for example, the kafala system has been abandoned, the minimum wage has been decided, and a wage fund has been established for missing wage funds. The problem is that practically no one monitors the implementation of the laws.
Zitting says that there was also a discussion about Qatar’s sports washing and possible boycotts by the participating countries.
The Qatar Games are now the third in a row in Asia: the previous games were held in China, and this fall the games will be held in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. Zitting would have hoped that there would have been applications from Europe as well.
– We also had a discussion about this. Of course, you have to think about what kind of countries these games can be held in the future. We now have for the first time (the next World Championships) split races and good races from split races in Europe as well. I hoped that it would have given more countries the opportunity to apply for the Games. I believe that this is also influenced by the economic situation in Europe and the war in Ukraine. It was difficult to find public involvement in the projects. This would have been Europe’s place, but Europe was not able to take it now.
At least to the general public, Qatar does not immediately conjure up images as a traditional basketball power, but according to Zitting, the sport has a foothold in the country.
– In itself, Qatar does have quite an honorable basketball tradition. At the youth level, there have also been regional championships.
The chairman of the Finnish Basketball Association was dismayed
President of the Finnish Basketball Association Timo Elo did not receive information about Qatar hosting the competition with joy.
– I kind of thought that this shouldn’t go like this. When the matter has been clarified a little, it is apparently the case that there were no other applicants even at the end. In that sense, the hands of the decision-makers are probably tied. We had no information that Qatar was being prepared there. A sad decision, commented Elo.
Finland participated in the 2014 World Championships. Susijengi will also be seen in the fall in the joint championships of the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, where the groups will be drawn on Saturday in Manila.
Finland could very well also participate in the World Cup in Qatar. According to Elo, the team and the Finnish Basketball Federation will first prepare for the World Championships to be played this fall, and only then will the eyes turn to the next qualifiers.
– In any case, we will definitely go for a place in the competition. Of course, we listen to the players’ views, but after thinking quickly, there is no boycott planned. All in all, however, I would hope that these issues would be taken more widely into account in the sports world. As a European, this is not a good trend in any way. We have experience from the World Cup in Qatar and we come to this with a bit of sadness. Let’s try to make changes in the future.
But what Antti Zitting are you thinking about organizing the Games in Qatar?
– Based on the information, presentations and discussions received here, I think the choice is understandable, because the decision had to be made today.