ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - With the Wild Cards for next year’s FIBA World Championship announced shortly, all the participating teams will be known in time for the draw. The draw will be held at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul on Tuesday, 15th December 2009 at 11:30AM local time (10:30AM CET) With personalities from all quarters of the basketball world sure to be present, including top players, coaches and officials, it is an event in the basketball calendar not to be missed. Expect plenty of on the spot reaction to an event that is certain to have an important say in the unfolding of World Basketball’s biggest tournament.

Twenty-four teams go into the hat for the draw.
Twenty teams are already qualified and will be joined by the four wild card teams, which will be chosen by the Central Board during their meeting in Istanbul and revealed on 13th December.

Angola - Argentina - Australia - Brazil - Canada - China - Croatia - France - Greece - Iran - Ivory Coast - Jordan - New Zealand - Puerto Rico - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Tunisia - Turkey - USA - wild card 1 - wild card 2 - wild card 3 - wild card 4

All media representatives are cordially invited to attend the draw. In case of interest please contact the Turkish Basketball Federation at sancars@tbf.org.tr.

The draw for the 2010 FIBA World Championship can be seen live on turkey2010.fiba.com

Draw and Competition Format
The draw will divide the 24 teams into 4 groups of 6 teams, with each team playing the other five teams in their respective groups. Following the group stage, the top placed four teams from each group (16 teams) progress to the Eighth Finals, at which point the competition continues through to the Finals in a standard knock-out format.

The Championship will be played in Turkey in the cities of Ankara, Kayseri, Istanbul and Izmir between 28th August and 12th September 2010.

Quick Facts about the FIBA World Championship
Held every 4 years, the FIBA World Championship determines the world’s top nation in men’s basketball. The tournament was first held in 1950 in Argentina and the sixteenth edition will be played next year Turkey.

Seven different teams have been crowned World Champions. Leading the medal table are the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the USA, all having won the Championship three times. Spain are defending the title they won in Japan in 2006, while Argentina are currently the world’s best ranked basketball nation.

The 2010 FIBA World Champion will automatically qualify for the 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament in London.

More on the FIBA World Championship website turkey2010.fiba.com