FIBA Europe: 2013 Draws Set for Saturday
Saturday 8 December marks the draws for EuroBasket 2015 1st Qualification Round, EuroBasket Women 2015 1st Qualification Round, as well the 16 Youth European Championships 2013.
The draws, which take place in Freising, Germany will welcome in a new innovation for future EuroBasket tournaments, with the concept of beginning the qualification process for EuroBasket two years prior to the tournament a first for a FIBA Europe sanctioned tournament.
The new system is aimed to provide more competitive games for teams not qualified for EuroBasket 2013 and EuroBasket Women 2013.
14 women’s and 13 men’s teams have taken up the invite to participate in the inaugural competition.
The 13 men’s teams (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland) will be divided into four groups – three with three teams and one with four – and will play each team in their group in a home-and-away series.
The winner of each group then qualifies for the play-off stage, where they will play semi-finals and finals on a home-and-away basis.
Only the winner of the final will automatically qualify for EuroBasket 2015. Every other team that competes in 2013 will be invited to have a second crack at qualifying in the summer of 2014, alongside all EuroBasket 2013 teams that do not earn automatic qualification to the 2015 edition of the event.
The 14 women’s teams (Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg, FYR of Macedonia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Switzerland) will be divided into four groups – two with four teams and two with three – and will compete in a traditional tournament format. The host nation/s for the women’s groups will be known at a later date, with the possibility that each group may be hosted by a different country.
The winner of each group then qualifies for the play-off stage, where they will play semi-finals and finals on a home-and-away basis.
EuroBasket 2015 1st Qualification Round Men’s Seedings
(Seedings based on rankings following the EuroBasket 2013 Qualification Round)
| POT A | POT B | POT C | POT D |
| Estonia | Switzerland | Iceland | Denmark* |
| Bulgaria | Netherlands | Slovak Republic | |
| Austria | Belarus | Portugal | |
| Hungary | Romania | Luxembourg |
*Denmark did not participate in the EuroBasket 2013 Qualification Round
EuroBasket 2015 1st Qualification Round Women’s Seedings
(Seedings based on rankings following the EuroBasket 2013 Qualification Round)
| POT A | POT B | POT C | POT D |
| Poland | Finland | Belgium | Luxembourg |
| Greece | Germany | Bulgaria | F.Y.R Macedonia* |
| Israel | Netherlands | Estonia | |
| Slovenia | Switzerland | Portugal |
*F.Y.R of Macedonia did not participate in the EuroBasket 2013 Qualification Round
Courtesy FIBA Europe