MIES, Switzerland (FIBA 3x3) - The 2015 edition of the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships will take place in Tunisia next June and feature 48 teams from 36 countries, FIBA announced on Wednesday. The exact dates and host city will be revealed at a later stage.

The Tunisian Basketball Federation - one of the most active national federations in the development of 3x3 - will host the fourth edition of the tournament. It is the first time the event will be staged in Africa after successful events in Rimini, Italy (2011), Alcobendas, Spain (2012) and Jakarta, Indonesia (2013).

The event was originally set to take place in Israel but because of the unrest in the region, will be staged in Tunisia instead.

The FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships are held on an annual basis, except the year of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). 3x3 was once again the only basketball discipline played at this past summer’s YOG in Nanjing, China (16-28 August).

The 2015 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships will follow the same competition format as the Open World Championships with men's and women's competitions as well as individual contests. Twenty-four men’s and 24 women’s teams are set to compete in a four-day event in Tunisia.

The qualified teams in the men's event are: Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania (YOG winners), New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, USA and Vietnam.

The qualified teams in the women's event are: Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Guam, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, USA (YOG Winners) and Venezuela.

The selection of teams for the tournament is based on the 3x3 Federation Ranking as it stood on the cut-off date of 1 November. This ranking is based both on sport and development criteria, allowing both the strongest on the court as well as the most active countries to participate in the event.

With the FIBA 3x3 World Championships taking place every two years (even years), the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships will be the most important 3x3 national team competition in 2015.

As well as these national team competitions, 2015 will see the fourth edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and the third one of the FIBA 3x3 All Stars.

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About FIBA and 3x3 basketball

Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 basketball is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefitted from the launch of a yearly city-based 3x3 World Tour (www.3x3worldtour.com) and national-team world championships.

For further information about the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and 3x3 basketball, visit fiba.com/3x3, twitter.com/3x3planet and youtube.com/3x3planet or contact 3x3@fiba.com.