The fate of the victor of the 2017 SEABA Champions has been determined this Sunday night during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers draw held in Guangzhou, China.
For the first time in its history, one of basketball's most prized assets is made nearly entirely out of gold and features a roll of honour listing all previous world champions.
The FIBA World Cup trophy stands 60 centimetres high, 13cm higher than the previous version.
Thirty-two teams, including host China, will battle for supremacy in the FIBA World Cup, formerly the World Championship.
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The quadrennial event that will attract 32 countries will be staged in eight Chinese cities namely Beijing (LeSports Center), Shanghai (Mercedes-Benz Arena), Dongguan (Dongguan Basketball Center), Guangzhou (Guangzhou International Sports Arena), Nanjing (Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium), Wuhan (Wuhan Gymnasium), Foshan (Foshan Metro Sports Arena) and Shenzhen (Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center). There were four different draws, one for each region - Africa, Americas, Asia (which includes Oceania) and Europe. China will stage the tournament for the first time in their history, Insidethegames.biz reports.
The decision to ban headgear was also criticized by players from the Islamic and Jewish community, because it meant that they would not be allowed to wear hijabs or yarmulkes while taking the court, according to BFI.
Serbia, silver medallists at the 2015 edition, will play Germany, Georgia and a yet to be determined qualifier in Pool G of the European section.
France, who won bronze two years ago, have been drawn alongside Belgium, Russia and another team that are still to be confirmed.
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