Papal visit, APEC conference boost PHL bid for 2019 FIBA World Cup hosting

Published July 23, 2015 11:22am

The Philippines is considered an underdog to China as the final contenders for the hosting of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but bid consultants have a reason to believe that the country has proven its ability in handling international events.

In particular, Pope Francis' visit in January and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference held throughout the year would bolster PHL's bid for the hosting rights.

"The Philippines demonstrated brilliantly its ability to mobilize and manage such large volumes of people," said Ian Rumsby, a Chief Strategy Officer of public relations firm Weber Shandwick, in a round table media briefing on Wednesday morning.

China's trump card is its expertise in holding large-scale sporting events, such as the 2008 Summer Olympics and other major international tournaments like the Asian Games.

Although the Philippines already hosted the FIBA World Championships back in 1978, China's experience holds more water as they are more recent compared to the Philippines'.

The selling point of the Philippines' bid revolves around the Filipino fans' passion for the sport, but for Rumsby, the success of the papal visit and the APEC meetings are also encouraging.

"That sense of emerging nation and the competence and momentum that comes with that is something that helps fuel the passion of the country as well," he said.

Millions of Filipinos flocked to Manila, Tacloban, and Leyte to see Pope Francis during his five-day trip to the country, while the ongoing APEC meetings of 21 state leaders have been successful so far.

FIBA has announced that it aims for a quantum leap in terms of hosting the World Cup from Spain's last year, and Rumsby is confident that PHL can deliver.

"It is an organization that wants to take the World Cup and basketball to the next level," he said of FIBA. "We believe the Philippines is the right nation to do exactly that."

Philippines and China will present their final pitch on August 7 in Tokyo, Japan. - RAF, GMA News

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