France has been named the host country for the 2031 men’s Basketball World Cup, the international federation announced on Wednesday.
This will mark the first time that France has hosted the tournament – which will be hosted between Paris, Lille and Lyon between August 29th and September 14th, 2031.
The final will be held in Paris.
The year before, Japan will host the women’s world cup, Fiba announced, underlining the importance of the two countries as “leading organisers of international events”, such as the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“There has never been a Basketball World Cup in France. Quite a few things are falling into place . . . We’re coming off the back of the Olympic Games, which were euphoric; basketball ticket sales accounted for 10 percent of total Olympic ticket sales, with 1.1 million spectators – that’s phenomenal,” said the president of the French Basketball Federation.
Basketball has a long history in France, being a popular sport since the 1900s with dozens of teams in smaller towns.
These days, it’s the second most popular team sport in France, according to French Federation of Basketball, with over 2.5 million casual and registered players nationwide, following football in first place and handball and rugby in third and fourth respectively.
France now counts at least 4,000 local clubs, 14 million fans, and claims the title of country outside of North America with the most players in the NBA.
Although France has a thriving domestic league, most of the country’s top players still end up moving to the US to play in the NBA – including the French superstar Victor Wembanyama.
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The basketball world cup will be the latest in a string of international sports events in France following the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024.
The next major sporting event is scheduled to be the Winter Olympics – hosted between Nice and the French Alps – in 2030.
