FIBA undecided to lift sanctions against Russia and Belarus. As of March 1, the governing body of basketball decided not to allow representatives of these two countries to take part in its competitions. A sanction which was confirmed this Wednesday during a meeting of the FIBA ​​Executive Committee. In a statement, the federation also added thatno competition organized under its aegis will take place in Russia and Belarus until further notice. In addition, the teams representing the Russian Federation and the Belarusian Basketball Federation have been excluded from the next international competitions, both for the men’s and women’s selections but also for 3×3 basketball, of which the 2022 World Cup will take place next June. in Antwerp. Russia will be replaced by Slovenia in the men’s tournament and Israel in the women’s tournament as the highest ranked non-qualified teams.

Russia and Belarus excluded from the next World Cups

As for basketball, the consequences of FIBA’s decision are serious. First of all, Russia and Belarus are excluded from qualifying for the 2023 Men’s World Cup and will not be replaced. The results of the matches already played by the two nations in the first round are canceled and the other teams in their respective groups are ranked according to the result of the other four matches. A measure which requires FIBA ​​to erase the results of the matches played by the other nations against the fourth in their group of the first round to establish the classification of the groups of the second round. FIBA has also confirmed that Russia will not participate in the Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament scheduled for September and October in Washington and will be replaced by Puerto Rico. Regarding European competitions and the Champions League, similar decisions are expected in the coming days and will be taken by the leaders of FIBA ​​Europe.