Ang draw na maglalagay sa 18 bansang kalahok sa tatlong Olympic qualifying tournaments ay nakatakdang isagawa ngayon sa FIBA House of Basketball sa lungsod ng Mies sa Switzerland, may sampung minutong lakbayin mula sa kapitolyo ng Geneva.

Ganap na 6:30 ng gabi, (1:30 ng madaling araw sa Pilipinas, magaganap ang draw na kinatawan ang bansa ni Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios.

Nauna nang pinili ng FIBA Executive Committee ang Pilipinas, Italy at Serbia bilang host ng tatlong torneo mula sa kabuuang 8 bidders.

Ang 18 mga bansang hahatiin sa tig-walo ay ang France, Serbia, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Philippines, Iran, Japan,Puerto Rico, Mexico,Canada, Angola, Tunisia,Senegal at New Zealand.

6 koponan nagbabalak ligwakin ang PVL; lilipat daw sa bagong liga?

Umalis si Barrios ng Manila patungong Geneva noong Lunes ng hatinggabi at nakatakdang magbalik sa Huwebes ng gabi.

Nakatakda siyang makipagpulong kay FIBA director of events Predrag Bogosevljev hinggil sa mga bagay na may kaugnayan sa Manila hosting ng Olympic qualifier sa Mall of Asia Arena sa Hulyo 4-10.

“We are not informed at the moment of how the draw will be conducted but we understand it will be a modified draw based on geographical and quality principles,”ani Barrios.”Since Turin and Belgrade will host two of the three tournaments, that means there will be six European countries left to be drawn. We are expecting at least two European countries to be drawn in our group. FIBA will not want to overload a group with countries from the same zone. For instance, we don’t expect either Iran or Japan to be in our group.”

Magkakaroon umano ang Filipino fans ayon kay Barrios ng bibihirang pagkakataon na makapanood ng “world-class competition” sa darating na Olympic qualifier. “This won’t be an exhibition or a tune-up or a pocket tournament,” aniya.”This is an important competition where a ticket to the Olympics is at stake. My view is the Olympic qualifier is at the level of the World Cup that Manila hosted in 1978. The Philippines has played in only one Olympic qualifier ever and that was in 1964 in Yokohama. We didn’t make it to the Tokyo Olympics but this time, it will be different because we’ll be hosting. The Olympic qualifier is a tougher challenge than the FIBA Asia Championships where we finished second in Changsha last year. But while our chances may be slim to win it, remember we’ve got our Sixth Man, the world’s Most Valuable Fans and that advantage could tilt the balance.” dagdag niya