SPORTS
Ukraine will host Euro Basket 2015
Baku, December 19 (AZERTAC). The FIBA Europe Board decided on Sunday that Ukraine will be the host country of EuroBasket 2015.
FIBA Europe President Olafur Rafnsson, who announced the Board's decision, spoke immediately after the signing of the Hosting Agreement: "I would like to congratulate Ukraine and the large delegation of important personalities that came to Munich to support the bid.
"We all know that Ukraine is a big country, we have detected a lot of enthusiasm and the will to become one of the powerhouses of European basketball, and I think they have everything they need to succeed. They have been organising and will organise big sporting events with great success."
Sergey Bubka, the legendary Olympic Gold Medallist and six-time World Champion fronted the Ukrainian bid in his current capacity as National Olympic Committee President.
"This is a great historical decision for Ukrainian sport, for Ukrainian basketball and European Basketball and we promise to deliver the best EuroBasket in our country.
Ukraine was the only candidate to host EuroBasket 2015 after the withdrawal of a joint bid by Croatia, France, Germany and Italy earlier this week.
The proposed EuroBasket 2015 venues are in the cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk and the capital Kyiv for the First Round with Odessa, Lviv and again Kyiv hosting the Second Round and the Finals.