By Ivan Saldajeno

BINAN--The Philippines gets to host a major international basketball again as FIBA awarded the country the right to host the next FIBA Women's Asia Cup in 2027.

FIBA announced on Thursday that the Philippines will be hosting a FIBA Asia Cup again following a historic 2013 edition in the men's division that saw Gilas Pilipinas qualifying for the following year's FIBA World Cup after a long while.

This time around, it's Gilas' women's team's turn to host the tournament as the team continues its grind to become a major Asian women's basketball force.

“We are excited to return to the Philippines for a FIBA Asia event,” said FIBA Asia executive director Hagop Khajirian.

“We believe hosting the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup event in the Philippines, where basketball has a passionate following, will help FIBA’s efforts to promote women’s basketball in Asia. The event will also serve as a boost to the SBP’s (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) efforts to promote women’s basketball in the Philippines,” he added.

“The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is proud to be the host for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2027. The federation has always been an ardent partner of FIBA in prioritizing the growth of women’s basketball, and it’s about time for the Philippines to do even more,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.

“The timing is perfect for the Philippines to host this competition as women’s basketball in the country currently has great momentum behind it with the foundation of a women’s professional league and some of our national team players getting opportunities to play abroad,” he added.

On why the Philippines was chosen to host the 2027 FIBA Women's Asia Cup, Kharjian explained, “The hosts for the calendar ahead were decided based upon not only organizational capacity, but also for the potential of creating a logical progression for basketball development in their countries.”

FIBA finalized the decision during a June 26 FIBA Asia board meeting but was only announced a week later.

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