Edmonton to host FIBA women's Olympic pre-qualifying tournament
FIBA announced on Saturday, September 28 that the Edmonton Expo Centre will host one of two Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament for the Americas region.
The tournament will take place in November at the Expo Centre’s Hall D. Ticket information and schedule for FIBA Women's Pre-Qualifying Tournament will be announced shortly - Click here to sign up for the Canada Basketball mailing list to receive advanced ticket information.
"The Alberta Basketball Association is very excited about the announcement of Edmonton being awarded the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament,” says Paul Sir, Executive Director of the Alberta Basketball Association. “We look forward to supporting the event in every way possible. We are proud of our city's commitment to supporting the women's Olympic hopes and how it works in tandem with the Live Active Strategy to benefit our community.”
The newly developed Olympic pre-qualification tournaments will serve to qualify teams to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020, and ultimately the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Africa will host one tournament, with the Americas and Asia-Oceania hosting two tournaments each. Argentina is hosting the other Americas tournament.
The teams competing in the two Americas pre-qualifying tournaments will be Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and USA. The top two teams at each tournament advance to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
The FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020, taking place in February, will feature four four-team groups. The top three teams from each will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Women's Basketball Tournament.
As the home of the Senior Women’s National Team, the City of Edmonton regularly hosts the team for training camp and competition, including the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship where Team Canada won gold and qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“We are extremely honoured to be chosen to host the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament,” says Don Iveson, Mayor, City of Edmonton. “Edmontonians continue to embrace basketball in a big way, both in the stands and on the court. Building on our city’s long history of women’s basketball, this tournament is an exciting opportunity for Edmontonians to see some of the world’s best women’s basketball players right here in our own community.”
Hall D Arena at the Edmonton EXPO Centre is the home of Edmonton Stingers in the CEBL and is equipped with 3,485 stadium seats, an LED video wall and sound system, and a state-of-the art LED sports lighting is being incorporated into the venue.
Canada's women's team is currently ranked 5th worldwide by FIBA and have participated in the past two Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016).
For more information about the Women's National Team Competition System, click here.
