Basketball in Africa

SEYCHELLES doesn’t have the level to play at the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) men’s World Championship but it will be represented by three in Turkey.

Two young players – Laura Françoise and Kenny César – accompanied by coach Jerry Andrew leave early today for Istanbul, Turkey, to take part in the ‘Children of the World Camp’ for boys and girls from August 23-31.

The two youngsters and their coach were chosen by the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) for the camp.

Every national basketball federation was offered an opportunity to send one boy and one girl to the camp during the Fiba World Championship. All costs are born by the organisers and the camp will be held in several languages.

The organisers said this is a unique opportunity for all the national member federations to share the excitement of the 2010 Fiba World Championship and to provide these young players with unforgettable experience while meeting their fellow basketball friends from all over the world, learning about new cultures and making new friends.

The 2010 Fiba world congress will also be held in Istanbul on September 4-6, but SBF chairman Roy Collie has said that he is not sure of attending because the local federation does not have enough money to pay for such expenses even though he thinks Seychelles stands to gain a lot from presence at the congress.

Meanwhile, Turkey will host the Fiba World Championship from August 28 to September 12.

Considered as prestigious a competition as the Olympic basketball tournament, the World Championship is co-organised by Fiba.

For the third time since 1986, it will have 24 competing nations, an increase from 16. As a result, the groups are each playing in different cities, with the knockout round being hosted by Istanbul.

The 24 teams have been drawn into four groups of six and they will play each other on a round- robin basis. The top four teams in each group will advance to the knockout round – quarterfinals – until the new Fiba champions are crowned.

The groups
Group A (in Kayseri): Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
Group B (in Istanbul): Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
Group C (in Ankara): China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
Group D (in Izmir): Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand

G. G.