Olympic hoops qualifier moved to next summer
Organizers hope the rescheduled FIBA men’s Olympic basketball qualifying tournament at Save-onFoods Memorial Centre will serve as a celebration in a time when the pandemic is under control.
The new dates, June 29 to July 4, 2021, were announced Thursday. The qualifier, originally scheduled for June 23-28 at the Memorial Centre, was postponed due to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being pushed into next year because of COVID-19.
The rescheduled dates for the qualifier coincide with the new starting date of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, 2021.
“Communities across the capital region, Canada and around the world continue to show tremendous resiliency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Clint Hamilton, chairman of the local organizing committee
“If we continue along this positive path we’re on, hosting the Olympic qualifying tournament next summer in Greater Victoria will be something we can all look forward to as a chance to celebrate our collective perseverance and the determined spirit shown in overcoming this global crisis. We have to plan with the hope this will be an opportunity to bring the community together after the pandemic.”
Nearly 3,000 full tournament passes had been sold by the time ticket sales were suspended on March 24 due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.
All previously purchased ticket packages will be honoured for the new tournament dates. Full refunds are available at info@selectyourtickets.com or by calling the Memorial Centre box office at 250-220-7777 before June 30, after which all tickets will be non-refundable and honoured for the new tournament dates next year.
Sales of tournament passes for the new dates have begun and are available at selectyourtickets.com. Individual game tickets will go on sale at a later time.
Canada has not qualified for the Olympics in men’s basketball since two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria captained the national team to the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. There are high hopes for the delayed Tokyo Olympics with a burgeoning new generation of Canadian NBA talent having committed to play for the national side at the Victoria qualifier before it was postponed.
Canada Basketball expects that level of commitment to remain for the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
“Next summer’s FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament will be a much-welcomed occasion to realize the power of sport and help unite our country,” Glen Grunwald, president and CEO of Canada Basketball, said in a statement. “Representing your country is one of the greatest honours in sport.”
The Victoria qualifying tournament will include the host nation Canada along with Greece, featuring the reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, China, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey. The winner advances to the Tokyo Olympics.
There is a chance the NBA may start later than usual in 202021, depending on the pandemic situation, which could affect NBA players being available for the Olympics.
“Pushing the qualifier back a week [from this year’s original dates] gives more time for our Canadian NBA players to prepare after their seasons and allows the tournament to run over the Canada Day weekend, which will be huge,” Hamilton said.
But Hamilton acknowledged “the virus is in control.”
Tokyo organizers, stung by being ridiculed as the pandemic widened for insisting the Games would go ahead, have now become hugely cautious, saying there will not be a Games even next year unless it is safe and a vaccine has been developed or herd immunity attained.
But John Coates, the chief International Olympic Committee overseer for the Tokyo Games, has likened them to the 1920 Antwerp Olympics following the First World War and the 1948 London Olympics following the Second World War.
“The Tokyo Olympics may ultimately be amongst the greatest Games ever, if not the greatest,” Coates, an Australian, told Reuters last week.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also held out hope. “I don’t think this will be an issue next summer,” she said during a briefing on the pandemic last week.
Olympic hopefuls around the world, including many training on the Island, hope so.
“I know our players will see the challenge ahead of them next summer as one small opportunity to recognize the daily sacrifices of all the front-line workers who are keeping our country safe and operating during this pandemic,” Grunwald said.