The Cyprus Basketball Federation (CBF) has unveiled its candidacy to host the Group Phase of the FIBA Eurobasket 2025 in Limassol.
The candidacy was officially presented in an event held on Tuesday in the presence of Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, MPs, the Cyprus Sports Organisation and the Olympic Committee.
“Our country has an opportunity of historical significance for a major sporting event that could constitute a landmark,” said Andreas Mouzourides, the CBF President.
Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine submitted their official bids to host the major tournament in September 2025.
The 2025 Fiba Eurobasket marks the first time Cyprus has entered the official bidding process.
According to FIBA, Europe, Latvia, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine submitted bids for the Group Phase and the Final Phase of the event.
Cyprus and Finland, meanwhile, only placed bids to organise the Group Phase.
In August, Cyprus’s bid was officially submitted, while the presentation will be made in Munich in March 2022.
Mouzourides said, “this is a unique opportunity that we cannot allow to be left wasted”.
An audit firm EY, commissioned by the CBF, showed that Cyprus would need to spend €5.6 mln while income generated from hosting the event is estimated at €12.9 mln.
Expenditure includes €2.8 mln in rights and other obligations to FIBA Europe, €1.8 mln associated with the event and approximately €1 mln for the renovation and the increase in capacity of the Spyros Kyprianou arena hosting the Group Phase.
Income includes €9 mln from foreign fans, journalists and sports delegations visiting Cyprus and additional revenue of €3.9 mln from domestic fans.
Addressing the event, Petrides described Cyprus’ bid as historic and praised the Federation’s plans and preparations to host the event.
CBF called all stakeholders to support its candidacy to host “the biggest ever sports event” in Cyprus.
FIBA Europe will evaluate all venues and infrastructures between October 2021 and January 2022 before it decides on the hosts’ next spring.
The multi-host format of the event was first introduced in 2015.
