A FIBA Europe delegation paid a working visit to the new arena constructing for EuroBasket

A FIBA Europe delegation led by its Executive Director, Kamil Novak, paid a working visit to Tbilisi.

The members of the delegation got acquainted with the construction works of the new basketball arena in Georgia, which is being built to host EuroBasket 2022 and there is no analogue of it in our country. They made relevant recommendations so that the new arena will meet the demands of Eurobasket and high level international standards in the future.

It is noteworthy that despite the pandemic, the construction process of the new arena was ongoing and its major works have already been completed. FIBA Europe representatives arrived in Tbilisi to inspect the construction of the arena and together with the leaders of the Georgian Basketball National Federation, they met with the Deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia, representatives of the construction client “Sportmshenservice” and the construction company “Saba Construction” on March 29.

Sakis Kontos and Nick Marzoli, Heads of FIBA Europe Communications and Information Technology Departments are in Tbilisi together with Kamil Novak. The FIBA Europe delegation and the leadership of the Georgian Basketball National Federation discussed the organizational issues of the upcoming Eurobasket and various joint projects.

The following statements were made to the media after the meeting:

Paata Guraspauli (President of the Georgian Basketball National Federation): First and foremost, many thanks to Mr. Kamil Novak and his accompanies for the visit. Likewise, thanks to the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia, Mr. Soso Giorgadze for coming. We had a joint, very productive working meeting today. It is gratifying that the construction of the arena is proceeding according to the schedule and before the EuroBasket, hopefully, we will host the qualifying matches of the World Cup in this new arena in February next year. It is significant that for the first time, our country will have a basketball arena of all international standards, which will fully meet the requirements of FIBA and we will successfully host the Eurobasket 2022 at a high level.

Soso Giorgadze (Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia): In 2019, we took on the big challenge of having the appropriate infrastructure to host such a high-level event as EuroBasket. It is gratifying that this challenge has been virtually overcome as the construction work on this unique arena draws to a close. The new gym fully meets the standards of not only basketball but also world sports in general. The existence of such infrastructure will allow us to host various events and international tournaments, which will contribute to the development of numerous sports in our country. The constructing arena will have a capacity of about 10,000 spectators and will be distinguished from the existing infrastructure in Georgia by adopting the international standards of modern sports. According to the Executive Director of FIBA Europe Kamil Novak, who supported hosting of the EuroBasket in Georgia, he really welcomed the fact that the arena construction process is going on with such speed and intensity. It is important to note that in addition to EuroBasket, various international championships and events will also be held in this are in the future.

Kamil Novak (Executive Director of FIBA Europe): It’s amazing to be here, to see the progress. We know it’s not easy to keep the progress going in the time of Covid-19 pandemic. It’s very nice and obviously, this will be reported also to the board of FIBA Europe. We also have the opportunity to see the progress on the digital camera, but it’s totally different to be here personally, so I’m here today with some of my colleagues not only to visit and to inspect, but to support as much as we can. We have seen many arenas, so any good help also from us is welcome, as we understand. It’s also very nice to see the presence of the deputy minister of Culture and Sports, which is another proof that the country is doing its best. We are looking forwards to have here not only the EuroBasket, which is only one tournament of 6 or 7 days, but then the facility will remain here for basketball and for all the people in Georgia, for many other events, so it’s a really fantastic legacy.